Accidental Means

What Does Accidental Means Mean?

Accidental means refer to events that occur as a result of an accident, rather than from an individual’s deliberate decision or action. Some insurance policies provide coverage only for accidental means and do not cover events that are caused deliberately by an individual or another actor. Life insurance applies a similar test through the accidental death benefit, which only pays out when the cause of death meets the policy’s definition of an accident.

Insuranceopedia Explains Accidental Means

Accidental means can result from someone’s deliberate action, but only if that action is not the proximate cause of the incident. For example, if a person deliberately walks across a slippery surface and accidentally slips and falls, the decision to walk is deliberate, but the slip and fall are accidental. Similarly, in auto accidents, the driver’s actions are deliberate, but the crash itself is typically considered accidental. This is why insurers ask drivers to document what happened immediately after a car accident, since the steps taken at the scene often determine whether the loss is treated as accidental.

However, if a malicious person deliberately smashes an insured’s windshield with a baseball bat, this would not be considered an accidental means. If the insured’s policy excludes damage from deliberate actions, the loss would not be covered by the insurance company. The windshield example also points to why comprehensive coverage exists, since it pays for damage from vandalism and other non-collision events the insured did not cause.