Accident & Health Concepts✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 2/5
An insured slips on ice and fractures a wrist. Which statement correctly distinguishes 'accidental means' from 'accidental bodily injury' as used in accident policies?
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
Under the 'accidental means' doctrine, both the cause and the result must be accidental — the policy pays only if the event that produced the injury was itself unexpected. 'Accidental bodily injury' is the broader, modern standard: the injury need only be unintended, regardless of how routine the cause was. The slipping on ice scenario meets both standards; a strain from ordinary lifting might meet only the injury standard.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) This reverses the two definitions: accidental means is the stricter test (cause and result), not the looser one.
- C) They are related but not identical; the 'means' test is historically narrower and the exam expects you to distinguish them.
- D) Both terms describe how accidents are defined in accident and disability policies generally; neither is tied to one policy type.
Memory hook
Means = the how was a surprise too. Injury = only the ouch was a surprise. Means is stricter; know which test is harder to satisfy.