This plan provides special benefits in the event of accidental death or serious injury. Coverage under this plan is provided at no cost to you. Moreover, any Accident benefits you may eventually receive are paid on top of any other benefits available to you.

As an eligible employee, you are automatically covered under the McGill Accidental Death and Dismemberment Plan. As the name suggests, the plan offers you additional financial protection if you die or suffer a serious injury as the direct result of an accident. The coverage you receive depends on your age:

"Salary" refers to your regular annualized salary, excluding any supplementary, sessional or overtime payments.

This coverage is provided at no cost to you.

What the plan covers

Depending on the nature and severity of your injury, you (or your beneficiaries in the case of accidental death) will receive a percentage of your coverage as outlined in the table below.

To qualify for payment under this plan, the loss must be incurred within 365 days of the accident. "Loss" means the actual severance of the body part in question through or above the respective joint or phalanges. "Loss of speech" means the inability to mutter intelligible sounds. "Loss of use" refers to the total and irrecoverable loss of function of an arm, hand, leg or foot. No benefit will be paid unless the loss has been continuous for at least 12 consecutive months.

The maximum benefit for multiple injuries sustained in a single accident is 200% of your coverage. Please note that this payment is entirely in addition to any benefits paid under the McGill Life Insurance or Disability Plans.

Exposure and disappearance

Any losses resulting from unavoidable exposure to the elements are also covered as outlined in the table above.

If your body is not found within one year of the disappearance, forced landing, stranding, sinking or wrecking of any conveyance (i.e., car, boat, plane or other means of transportation) in which you were riding at the time of the accident, you will be presumed to have died in the accident. Your beneficiary will receive a benefit equal to 100% of the coverage provided under the plan.

Additional coverage

In addition to the coverages shown in the table, the Accidental Death and Dismemberment Plan provides you and your family with a range of additional benefits. These benefits are summarized below:

A. Rehabilitation benefit

The plan will cover reasonable and necessary expenses (to a maximum of $10,000) for special training you must undergo to become qualified for an occupation you wouldn't have pursued except for the injury. Expenses must be incurred within two years from the date of the accident. The plan does not cover room, board, or other ordinary living, travelling or clothing expenses.

B. Repatriation benefit

The plan will pay up to $10,000 to return your body if you die as the direct result of injuries sustained in an accident that occurs 50 kilometers or more from your normal place of residence. This repatriation must occur within 365 days of the accident.

C. Family transportation benefit

The plan will pay up to $10,000 for a member of your immediate family to travel the most direct route by a licensed common carrier to visit you in a hospital, provided:

• the hospital is at least 100 kilometers away from your home
• the confinement is the direct result of injuries covered under the McGill Accidental Death and Dismemberment Plan
• the confinement occurs within 365 days of the accident
• the attending physician recommends, in writing, that the patient requires personal attendance of a member of his or her immediate family.

"Member of the immediate family" means your spouse (legal or common-law), parent, grandparent, children over the age of 18, brother or sister.

D. Spousal occupational training benefit

If you die as the direct result of a covered accident, the plan will cover the cost associated with your spouse's completion of a formal occupational training program.

The program must be undertaken specifically for qualifying your spouse to gain active employment in an occupation for which he or she would otherwise not have sufficient qualifications. Expenses must be incurred within 36 months of the date of your death. The maximum benefit payable under the plan is $10,000.

E. Home alteration and vehicle modification benefit

If you are confined to a wheelchair as the direct result of an injury covered under the McGill Accidental Death and Dismemberment Plan, the plan will also pay all reasonable and necessary expenses for:

1. The one-time cost of alterations to your principal residence required to make it wheelchair accessible and habitable. These alterations must be made by a person or persons with experience making the required modifications and recommended by a recognized organization providing support and assistance to wheelchair users.
   
   
2. The one-time cost of modifications to a motor vehicle for the purposes of making the vehicle accessible and driveable for you. Again, the modifications must be carried out by a person or persons with experience in this area. All modifications must be approved by the provincial vehicle licensing authorities.

The most that can be paid out under items 1 and 2 combined is $10,000.

F. Daycare benefit

If you die as the direct result of a covered accident, the plan will cover reasonable and necessary daycare expenses. The plan will provide up to 5% of your available coverage (to a maximum of $5,000 per year) on behalf of any eligible child under the age of 13 years who:

• is enrolled in a legally licensed daycare centre at the time of the accident,
  or
• becomes enrolled within 90 days following the date of the accident.

The daycare benefit will be paid each year for up to four consecutive years, provided the insurer receives satisfactory proof that the child is, in fact, enrolled in a legally licensed daycare centre.

G. Continuing education benefit

If you die as the direct result of a covered accident, the plan will provide up to $5,000 per year for the continuing education of any eligible child who, at the date of the accident:

• is enrolled as a full-time student in any institution of higher learning beyond the 12th grade level.

The special education benefit is payable annually for up to four consecutive years, but only if the eligible child continues his or her education as a full-time student in an institution of higher learning.

If you become disabled

Your coverage under the Accidental Death and Dismemberment Plan will continue while you are eligible to receive benefit payments under the McGill Long Term Disability Plan. Your coverage level will be based on the salary at the time your disability began.

When coverage ends

Your coverage under the plan will end when you:

• leave McGill for whatever reason
• retire
• no longer qualify as an eligible employee.

Converting your coverage

If you leave McGill, you will be given an opportunity to convert your coverage to an individual policy. You must do so within 90 days of your termination.

What the plan doesn't cover

The plan does not cover any losses, fatal or non-fatal, resulting from the following:

• intentionally self-inflicted injuries, suicide or attempted suicide while sane or insane
• declared or undeclared war, or any act of war
• serving on full-time active duty in the armed forces of any country or international authority
• travelling in any vehicle or device for aerial navigation other than as a passenger on a commercial airline.