Of the nearly 74,000 accident claims Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Co. received in 2004, more than 8,300 were for superficial head injuries such as a cut, bump or scrape.
The top 10 injuries resulting in an accident claim include:
Superficial head injury - 11.3 percent
Ankle sprain or strain - 3.6 percent
Neck sprain or strain - 3.3 percent
General trauma 3 percent
Open wound - 2.6 percent
General joint pain - 2.4 percent
Finger wound - 2.4 percent
Back sprain or strain - 2.2 percent
Broken forearm - 2.1 percent
Lower back pain 2 percent
Most accident victims who file a claim hurt themselves at home or at play and not while driving or riding in a car, Colonial reports.
"Almost all the top 10 diagnoses are the result of an injury that occurred off the job and do not involve a motor vehicle accident," says Mike Glover, Colonial Supplemental Insurance's vice president of claims.
Workers' compensation insurance doesn't cover injuries that occur off the job or children and others who are not employed. Major medical plans typically do cover treatment for accidents but usually include deductibles of several hundred to a thousand dollars and may have separate deductibles or co-payments for emergency room visits. Accident insurance coverage, offered by companies such as Colonial, can help protect families against these unexpected and sometimes significant expenses.
"No one plans to have an accident," Glover says. "With the right insurance protection, you can worry about getting better and not about paying the bill."
Sandy Smith is the former content director of EHS Today, and is currently the EHSQ content & community lead at Intelex Technologies Inc. She has written about occupational safety and health and environmental issues since 1990.
