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Accident Insurance for Self-Employed People and Families: The Safety Net Nobody Told You About
Written and reviewed by Dick Tracy, licensed health insurance broker (NPN 20414610) · Published August 31, 2026
When you work for yourself, there is no workers' comp waiting to catch you. Fall off a ladder on a Tuesday and the ER bill is your problem, deductible first. This is the fix: a 24-hour accident plan (Value Benefits of America membership with insurance underwritten by Federal Insurance Company, a Chubb Group company) that pays your accident medical bills up to $2,000, $5,000, $7,500, or $10,000 per accident, plus an accidental death benefit. Automatic acceptance through age 64, no health questions, no work requirement, from $31.95 a month for an individual and $39.95 for a family. It covers you on the job, off the job, anywhere in the world. And if you live in New York, it pays PRIMARY, before your health insurance even wakes up. Enroll online in minutes.
I'm Dick Tracy, an independent health insurance broker in Buffalo, licensed in 25 states with 80+ carriers behind me. My dream client is the self-employed person, because you people get the rawest deal in American insurance: no workers' comp, no employer benefits, and a marketplace deductible tall enough to need its own elevator. Accident coverage is one of the cheapest holes to plug, and this page shows you exactly what it does, what it does not do, and what it costs. I educate, you decide.
The gap: no workers' comp when you're the boss
Here is the math almost nobody runs. A W-2 employee who gets hurt at work has workers' comp. A self-employed contractor, a gig driver, a landscaper, a hair stylist renting a chair? You are on your own 24 hours a day. Your health plan will cover a bad accident eventually, but only after the deductible, and most self-employed folks I meet are carrying high deductibles on purpose to keep the premium sane. So a broken wrist becomes a few thousand out of pocket during the exact weeks you cannot work. The accident plan exists to fill that specific canyon: cash reimbursement for the ER, the surgeon, the x-rays, the ambulance, without touching your health plan's deductible logic.
The four options, with real prices
| Option 1 | Option 2 | Option 3 | Option 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accident medical (per accident) | $2,000 | $5,000 | $7,500 | $10,000 |
| Accidental death benefit | $2,500 | $5,000 | $7,500 | $10,000 |
| Deductible | $50 | $100 | $250 | $275 |
| Individual / month | $31.95 | $45.95 | $47.95 | $58.95 |
| Family / month | $39.95 | $49.95 | $59.95 | $69.95 |
Those are the monthly bank-draft rates, admin fee included, no enrollment fee (add $3 a month if you insist on paying by credit card). Family covers your spouse and dependent children. There is no limit on the number of covered accidents, and the coverage follows you: work, play, travel, anywhere in the world. The carrier's own worked example: a hiking fall with a fractured leg, surgery, and two hospital nights ran about $29,700 in billed charges, and the top option paid $21,100 of it across the admission, hospital, and accident medical benefits. That is the shape of what this thing does.
The New York twist: this one pays FIRST
Most accident plans pay on an excess basis, meaning they wait for your health insurance to go first and then pick up scraps. This policy works that way in most states too. But for residents of New York (and New Jersey, Connecticut, and Indiana), the accident medical benefit pays on a PRIMARY basis. It pays first. Your health plan's deductible never enters the conversation for the covered amount. We get shafted in New York on most insurance rules, so let me be the first to tell you: this one actually breaks our way. For a Buffalo family with a high-deductible plan and two kids in hockey, that is not a small feature.
What it does NOT do (read this twice)
It never pays for sickness. Not a cold, not a cancer, not a heart attack. The policy states in capital letters that it provides accident insurance only and is not basic hospital, basic medical, or major medical insurance. It is a supplement that sits next to health insurance, not a replacement for it, and anyone who sells an accident plan AS health insurance is exactly the kind of agent I warn people about. Standard exclusions apply too: injuries while committing a felony, while intoxicated or on non-prescribed controlled substances, self-inflicted injuries, war, and active military service. If you need actual health insurance and you are self-employed, that is literally my specialty: start with my self-employed coverage guide and then we can talk about layering this on top.
Where it's available and how to enroll
Online enrollment through my link covers 21 of my licensed states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Enrolling takes minutes:
1. Click the red button. It opens the enrollment page with my agent ID attached, so I become your broker on record.
2. Pick your state and your option (1 through 4), self or family.
3. Enroll with automatic acceptance through age 64. No health questions.
4. Your membership and policy materials come from Value Benefits of America, with the insurance underwritten by Federal Insurance Company (Chubb).
🚑 See the four options and enroll online
Common questions about accident insurance
Can self-employed people get accident insurance on their own?
Yes. This plan is bought by individuals, not employers: a Value Benefits of America membership with AD&D and accident medical insurance underwritten by Federal Insurance Company, a Chubb Group company. Automatic acceptance through age 64, no health questions, no work requirement, from $31.95 a month individual and $39.95 family. Covers you 24 hours a day, on or off the job, worldwide.
What does 24-hour accident coverage actually pay for?
Medical expenses from a covered accident: ER, hospital confinement, doctor and surgeon, labs, x-rays, ambulance, up to your chosen maximum ($2,000 to $10,000 per accident) after a small deductible, plus an accidental death benefit. First expense within 90 days of the accident, expenses payable up to 52 weeks. Accidents only. Never sickness. Not health insurance.
Does it pay in addition to my health insurance?
In most states it pays excess, after other coverage. For residents of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Indiana it pays PRIMARY: first, before your health plan's deductible enters the picture. For a New Yorker with a high-deductible plan, that is the standout feature.
Is there a health exam or medical questions?
No. Automatic acceptance through age 64. No exam, no health questions, no work-hours requirement. Family coverage includes spouse and dependent children at a percentage of your benefit amount.
What does it NOT cover?
Sickness, ever, and the policy says so in capital letters. Also excluded: injuries while committing a felony, while intoxicated or on non-prescribed substances, self-inflicted injuries, war, and active military service. It supplements health insurance. It does not replace it.
Is accident insurance worth it?
Run the math the way I would. If your health plan's deductible is bigger than your savings account, a plan that costs $31.95 to $58.95 a month and pays up to $10,000 per accident is cheap protection against the exact bill that wrecks people. It is worth it for high-deductible households, self-employed people with no workers' comp, tradespeople, and families with active kids. It is probably NOT worth it if you have a low deductible and enough savings to eat an ER bill without flinching, and I will tell you that to your face. I educate, you decide.
Does it cover kids' sports injuries?
Yes. Family coverage includes your dependent children, there is no limit on the number of covered accidents, and youth sports injuries are exactly the kind of claim this plan was built for: the broken wrist at hockey practice, the soccer collision, the trampoline landing that x-rays say was not fine. The ER visit, x-rays, doctor, and follow-up visits are reimbursed up to your option's accident medical maximum after the small deductible, and in New York it pays before your health plan's deductible even applies.
That is the whole pitch. If you want me to sanity-check how it fits next to your health plan first, grab a call. No hard sell, ever. I educate, you decide.
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