Childrens Insurance – what a parent should know
June 30, 2010
If you were told yesterday that you child had leukaemia would you be at work today or holding a little hand - what choices could you afford to make, what would be imposed upon you
Did you know 1,055 young Australians aged between one and 19 years died in 2006? One of the leading causes of death for those under 12 was cancer, whereas teenagers are were likely to die from transport accidents. These sobering statistics are outlined in The Australian Government’s Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s report Making Progress The health, development and wellbeing of Australia’s children and young people.1
I was reminded of these statistics recently when reading a Courier Mail article ‘Banking on a cure for kids’ cancer’. The gist of the Courier Mail article was to highlight the creation of a new Queensland Children’s Tumour Bank that stores tumours removed from children to help find better treatment and cures.
What caught my eye in the article was the story of a 13 year old girl diagnosed with a kidney tumour. The young patient and her mum left their home town in December for treatment in Brisbane, 500 kilometres away, and did not return until July the following year – some seven months later.
Let’s face it, it’s every parent’s worst nightmare that their child will be diagnosed with an illness such as cancer. As a parent myself, I felt both sympathy and admiration for the parents, the family and the young patient as they dealt with what I image would have been an hugely emotional roller coaster as she battled her illness.
Emotionally, as parents, we all know how difficult such as separation would be for everyone in the family. But what about the financial aspect? When one parent leaves town to accompany a sick child the family income drops and costs rise. The family home turns into two households to support, there are extra travel costs, not to mention the medical expenses.
We all like to think that our kids won’t get sick, seriously injured or die. However, statistics in the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report shows that in the 2006-07 year there were 75,000 injury admissions to hospital Australia wide in the five to 19 year old age group. The report also notes that in 2003 more than 120,000 Australians had a disability where their main disabling condition was caused by an injury that occurred before the age of 20.
When it comes to insurance, you’re probably familiar with trauma and death cover for adults, but did you know child cover is also available? Many insurers now offer a child policy providing cover on a range of conditions such as cancer or an organ transplant. Such policies may also extend to injuries such as burns, head trauma, loss of limbs or sight and paralysis.
As awful as it is to think of your child being terminally ill, sick or injured, taking out child cover will provide your family with some financial cushioning in the event of a serious medical event, leaving you free to concentrate your energies on supporting your sick child.
Your child’s cover will need to be taken out in conjunction with your life or trauma insurance and the option is not available if the policy is owned through a super fund. Also keep in mind that you cannot insure your child if they are under two years of age.
When your child turns 21, the policy will automatically transfer into their name without the need to provide any further medical information, although the policy may include any exclusions, medical or pastime loadings that applied to the original child cover option.
If you’d like to know more the child cover option, give us a call on (07) 5577 8653 or send me an email at paul@bronsonfs.com.au.
1 The Australian Government’s Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s report Making Progress The health, development and wellbeing of Australia’s children and young people. http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/phe/mp-thdawoacayp/mp-thdawoacayp.pdf
Please Note:
This publication has been prepared to provide you with general information only. It is not intended to take the place of professional advice and you should not take action on specific issues in reliance on this information. In preparing this information, we did not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. Before making an investment decision, you need to consider (with or without the assistance of an adviser) whether this information is appropriate to your needs, objectives and circumstances. This information is provided for persons in Australia only and is not provided for the use of any person who is in any other country
