A term appearing in some personal accident policies referring to an unexpected, unintended, or unforeseen cause of an accident, involving at least an element of fortuity. Under such policies, the “means” or cause leading to the accident must itself be accidental, not merely the resulting injury. Typically, the policy specifies that the bodily injury must arise from accidental means “solely and independently of any other cause.”
For example, if an individual chopping wood loses grip of an axe and accidentally cuts his foot, this qualifies as accidental means. However, if his finger simply gets in the way of the axe, this would generally not constitute accidental means. Modern courts, however, tend to avoid distinguishing strictly between “accidental bodily injury” and “bodily injury caused by accidental means,” often interpreting both similarly.