When a child is born, the life of the family changes completely. Now parents are responsible not so much for themselves as for the new life that they have allowed into this world. In the process of growing up, a little man very often faces many dangers and unforeseen situations. That is why in society more and more often the question arises that it is necessary to introduce compulsory accident insurance for children. Of course, it will not save from dangerous and critical situations, but it’s quite possible to help parents cope with the consequences of the policy.
However, compulsory insurance has many opponents - according to some experts, this infringes on some civil rights of a person, because everyone has the right to decide whether he needs insurance or not. For children, of course, until their adulthood, parents must make this decision.
Who needs an insurance policy
Today, accident insurance for school and preschool children is voluntary.
An accident is an unforeseen, unpredictable and not dependent on the desire of the insured circumstance that entailed a permanent or temporary disruption of health. From the foregoing, it is clear that, although no one wants the onset of this very incident, everyone should protect themselves from its consequences. This is precisely the essence of the insurance policy - if, God forbid, anything happens, your liability, at least materially, will be shared by the insurance company.
Child insurance may be paid due to:
- traumatic damage - getting bruises, fractures, sprains and dislocations, damage to internal organs;
- temporary unforeseen health disorders - poisoning, burns and other similar diseases;
- disability of any degree;
- death (death) of a minor child.
An insurance contract may be concluded for a child aged from one to 17 years.
Subtleties of a child insurance contract
A policy can be purchased immediately after the birth of a child; an agreement can be concluded for one year or for several years. Usually it provides for the payment of compensation in the event that the child is injured due to an unforeseen situation, and he needs medical attention. The insurance does not cover the usual ailments such as SARS, except in cases where the disease arose as a result of an accident. For example, if a child accidentally gets poisoned and as a result an ulcer develops, the insurance company will pay for the treatment of this disease.
Also, some features have accident insurance of children in sports. Here you need to be very careful, especially those parents whose children are involved in traumatic sports - karate, football, boxing, gymnastics and so on. The fact is that it matters exactly what conditions are specified in the contract. One of the options may be insurance for the period of participation in the competition - such insurance is cheaper, but it will not cover the costs of treating injuries sustained in a regular training session.
Policies. What are they
Now let's talk about exactly what accident insurance of children can be. All VHI (voluntary health insurance) policies can be divided into groups depending on the validity period, age of the child, and, of course, the list of insurance claims.
Any insurance institution will offer you at least two programs:
- round-the-clock policy;
- temporary insurance.
As the name implies, in the first case, the policy will cover the costs of treating the injury received by the child at any time of the day. A temporary policy protects your child, for example, in such cases:
- in the evening, during walks;
- while attending a specific lesson - chemistry, physical education, labor training;
- for the period of stay in kindergarten or school;
- while visiting the sports section.
In addition to the usual insurance and policy for active children attending sports sections, there is another program that helps protect your child for years to come. This is the so-called endowment insurance. The essence of such a program is as follows:
- parents conclude a long-term contract with the insurance institution, for example, until the child reaches the age of majority;
- monthly, over the entire period of time, parents transfer to the insurance company account a small amount specified in the contract;
- at the time of the insured event, the company covers the costs of treating the child and makes all payments due;
- if nothing happened during the entire period of the contract with the insured child, that is, the policy was not useful, the company pays the full amount paid by the parents.
It is this type of insurance that is gaining the most popularity today, since it not only protects the child, but also allows you to discreetly accumulate a rather impressive amount, for example, for his education.
School insurance
Insurance of children against accidents and illnesses during their visits to educational institutions is especially relevant. Although teachers are responsible for the child at school, they are simply physically unable to keep track of so many children at the same time. Have you ever seen a student who is able to sit in one place at the time of a call from a lesson or a child who never runs or pulls pigtails or a satchel? Probably there are, but this is rather an exception.
That is why many insurance institutions offer special policies that guarantee additional protection for your child during school hours. The duration of such policies is usually a school year - 9 months. They guarantee payment in the event that the child is injured within the walls of the educational institution, but your child remains unprotected on the way to and from school.
Policy cost
Child accident insurance can include many risk points. The price of the policy will depend on their quantity. The more points you want to include in the contract, the more expensive you will have to pay.
The cost of an insurance policy can start from 100–150 rubles per month, the highest level can be 20–30 thousand rubles per year or more. What to choose and how much to pay - you decide.
How to reduce the cost of the policy
As you already understood, accident and accident insurance for children and schoolchildren can be quite cheap as well as very expensive. If you are not lacking in funds, very good. And what about those who want to insure their child, but are not entirely financially sound? There are several ways to reduce the cost of a policy. Here is some of them:
- Try to arrange collective insurance, for example, have a conversation among parents and immediately insure the entire class. In this case, you can count on a significant discount.
- Carefully read the contract and exclude from it those points that do not suit you. For example, many companies introduce mandatory vaccination or a monthly massage course in the contract.
- Exclude dental services from insurance cases - it is very expensive, it is easier to deal with them yourself if necessary.
- Pay attention to the franchise - this is the minimum amount for which expenses are not reimbursed. For example, if the deductible is 500 rubles, and the treatment of the injury cost less, then the insurance company does not owe you anything. If the treatment costs, for example, 800 rubles, then the policy will cover only the difference - 300. If there is no deductible, insurance is more expensive.
How much can I get
Child accident insurance provides for partial or full payments, it all depends on the severity of the injury. Maximum compensation is usually provided in the event of a disability or death. Of course, the less the policy cost, the lower the amount of insurance payment will be. It can be roughly calculated as follows - the cost of the policy is approximately from 0.5 to 1.5% of the payment due in the event of an insured event. However, there is an unwritten rule - the alleged compensation cannot be more than 2 million rubles.
What you need to do to get insurance benefits
Compensation under a contract with any insurance company does not depend on how many more such contracts have been concluded with other institutions. This means that you can purchase a policy at two or three different companies, and after the occurrence of an insured event, receive payments in each of them.
Child accident insurance usually provides that from the moment of the accident you must notify the company of this in any way available to you within three days.
In order to get paid, you need to provide to the UK:
- the contract;
- insurance policy;
- document confirming the occurrence of the insured event.
Such documents may include:
- certificate from the emergency room;
- medical extract from a medical or outpatient card;
- confirmation of an expert medical board on the appointment of a disability of any category;
- certificate of death of the insured (copy + original).
Also, the insurance company may request additional documents confirming the occurrence of the insured event.
How to draw up a contract
Accident insurance for children, as well as any other type of insurance, is quite a simple matter. You will need to perform a number of simple steps:
- choose an insurance company;
- carefully study all the options and conditions for the provision of services (preliminary consultation can be obtained by phone or by visiting the company's website);
- choose the appropriate insurance program;
- prepare a package of documents necessary for concluding a contract (usually only a passport and a birth certificate are needed);
- conclude an agreement and pay it.
As you can see, everything is very simple and in practice rarely takes more than half an hour.
Choosing an insurance program
If you still decide to take out accident insurance for your child, the feedback from those who have already used the services of a particular insurance company will help you make the right choice. What to look for:
- Choose an organization with a proven track record, read reviews of other customers about it. Especially pay attention to the negative - it is in them that all “pitfalls” are usually described.
- Before concluding the contract, think again and try to impartially evaluate the personal qualities of your child. If your baby is an active person, able to be in four places at the same time, choose a program that covers all risks as much as possible. If you are lucky to have a child with an average or minimum level of activity, a program with a basic set of parameters is quite suitable.
Some parents frivolously think that child insurance is a waste of money. Of course, each of us hopes that nothing bad will happen to him, much less to his child. However, it is better to protect the child from accidents as much as possible.