Insurance policies I got for my newborn

9 months. The time before I held my little one for the first time in my arms. In those 9 months, I imagine the life that he/she will have. I think about how they might look like, what their personalities might be. I am the vessel housing and nourishing this precious gift. I take the precautions, the vitamins and supplements needed just so that my child can grow healthily in my body.

Even before my child is born, I developed a mama bear instinct – It has a sweet sound to it but that is just a nice way to describe the fact that I would tear you apart if you mess with my child. We want to be able to protect our children even before they are born, what more when they come into this world?

I am a firm believer in the saying “Practice what you preach.” After years of advising my clients on what to purchase for their babies, I finally had to plan for my first child’s insurance portfolio in 2017. I even recall waiting for the 15th day before whipping out my laptop to apply for his policies whilst still being on maternity leave! So, what did I end up purchasing in the end?

1) Hospitalization Coverage

I cannot emphasize this enough. This coverage is the BARE minimum you should have for your child (and yourself!). Hospitalization plans cover your child’s hospital bills in the event they get admitted. I recently had to use this policy to cover my daughter’s hospital stay. I even had a client who had to use this coverage 2 weeks after purchasing the policy for her son due to a bout of viral meningitis. And the claim amount? $10,000! The claim was paid out in full. 😎

Babies are very susceptible to all sorts of illnesses due to developing immune systems. And sometimes these tiny bodies need a little extra care or monitoring to ensure that whatever they are down with is not serious or can be quickly treated.

2) Accident Coverage

We have all been here as parents: Child falls off the bed, runs into walls or sharp edges, has a nasty fall at the playground or even the dreaded Hand Foot Mouth Disease more popularly known as HFMD, 4 letters that are can be your worst nightmare as a parent.

Accidents do happen. And sometimes, it does not warrant a visit to the A&E but it is serious enough to get checked at the GP or Paediatrician. Most accident plans cover medical expense reimbursement which means that you will be able to claim GP visits, diagnostic tests etc. should an accident occur. The claims I have encountered range from fractures, insect bites, HFMD, stitches due to a fall and the list goes on. You may not purchase this policy right at the very beginning but it is definitely useful to have in your child’s insurance portfolio. Especially if they are going to attend school or child care.

3) Critical Illness Coverage

My neighbour’s son was diagnosed with Leukaemia at the age of 4. Given that she was Malaysian and her husband is an expat, they found treatment costs in Singapore too expensive and moved back to their home country. Sadly, he passed on after a year of battling cancer.

Critical illnesses faced by children are not only heart wrenching but also carry physical, emotional and financial stress on families. A critical illness pay-out can help lessen the financial blow.

It can also be used for alternative treatment or miscellaneous expenses arising from the illness such as transportation costs, cost of hiring a helper or nurse or even costs incurred to allow for the home to accommodate medical needs.

4) Long Term Disability Coverage

In 2011, Thai teenager Nitcharee Peneakchanasak lost both legs after falling onto train tracks in Singapore. That tragic episode altered her life forever and left her in a wheelchair. Long-term disability coverage pays out a monthly benefit in the event you are no longer able to earn an income or do activities of daily living such as feeding, dressing or mobility. This disability can be due to an illness or and injury or an accident. Usually, this add on the rider is inexpensive especially for children as they are term insurance policies. You can add this rider to boost your existing coverage to include a provision for this.

It can also help in the event the parent chooses to stop work and become the full-time caregiver for the disabled child. Alternatively, the pay-out can help for long-term medical care like physiotherapy or occupational therapy or even long-term medication.

Reasons to buy early:

• No Exclusions When you purchase insurance for your child when they are young, they are most likely going to have standard coverage. What this means is that there should be no exclusions in their policies unless they are born with congenital illnesses or abnormalities. Even if conditions were to arise in future, since the insurance was purchased when they were healthy, they will still be covered for the rest of their lives (especially for hospital plans or even whole life plans)
  

• Lower Premiums Life insurance or even health insurance premiums are definitely much lower when the insured is younger. Your child will need to pay a lower premium as compared to if they were to purchase their insurance when they get older. This is especially so for whole life or investment-linked plans. Hospitalization coverage follows the age bracket of the insured so this premium will increase over time as the child gets older.
  

• As a gift You can consider your child’s insurance portfolio as a head start in life for them. Covering them young will enable them to have coverage for life. Policies can then be transferred to your children when they are older and earning an income so that they can be in charge of their own portfolio. At that time, they can then just add on to what you have already purchased for them. In some cases like life insurance, payments can be of a limited-term thus the child will inherit a policy that is completely paid off with coverage taking them through the rest of their lives.

Further considerations:

a) Are you planning to have more than 1 child? If so, you do not want to risk over-insuring one child and not having enough cash flow for the other children. Always plan while bearing in mind that you will most likely purchase the same kind of portfolio for all your children.

b) Have you reviewed your own portfolio as the breadwinner or caregiver of the family? In safety videos on planes, they always say to attend to yourself first before your child. That is mainly because you will need to be alive and safe first to be able to ensure your child’s safety. Likewise, you will need to ensure that you are sufficiently covered so that you can continue providing for your family even if the untoward happens.

I hope this helps you with your decision when choosing policies for your children. If you have any further questions, you can send me a message in the contact box below or email me at agentmamasg@gmail.com. Be well! 😊