Life and Trauma Insurance to Keep Your Child Covered
As a parent or guardian, your primary responsibility is the health and safety of your child. Select insurers may offer life insurance and trauma insurance (also known as child cover) for children as an additional option to your life, TPD or Trauma Cover Policy, extending insurance protection to more of your family.
Published December 13, 2021
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- What is child trauma insurance?
- What does Child cover include?
- Who can apply for child trauma insurance or child cover?
- What are the benefit amounts available?
- How does the Child Life Insurance option work?
- How much does child cover cost?
- Products with Free Built-In Child Cover
- Products with Optional Child Cover Added
- Other things to consider:
What is child trauma insurance?
Child Trauma Insurance, also sometimes known as Family Protection, is generally designed to insure your child against a number of critical illnesses. This life insurance for child option can be included as part of your trauma cover policy or, in some cases, it can be added as part of your Life and TPD policies.
What does Child cover include?
Child Cover will generally insure your child against a number of critical illnesses that are specified in the Policy Disclosure Statement (PDS), as well as terminal illness or death. In most cases, the critical illnesses that are included as part of the child cover are the critical illnesses most likely to affect children.
A summary of general critical illnesses is included below:
Cancers and Tumours:
- Benign Brain Tumour
- Benign Tumour of the spine
- Cancer
Nervous system disorders:
- Encephalitis
- Meningitis and or meningococcal disease
Heart Conditions:
- Cardiomyopathy
Body organ conditions:
- Chronic kidney failure
- Major organ transplant
Brain Disorders:
- Brain damage
- Major head trauma
- Stroke
Mobility conditions:
- Loss or paralysis of limb
Sensory conditions:
- Blindness
- Deafness
Blood Disorders:
- Aplastic Anaemia
Please consult the relevant PDS for a more detailed explanation of what trauma conditions and illnesses are covered by each insurer.
Who can apply for child trauma insurance or child cover?
Any of your children (biological or adopted) who are between the ages of 2 – 15 are eligible and generally coverage is available up to the age of 21. You may be able to insure as many children as you want under your policy. However, select insurers do have a limit in place.
What are the benefit amounts available?
Free cover:
- Select insurers offer up to $10,000 – $20,000 of free cover for each child covered under the policy.
Additional or paid cover:
- Most companies offer a paid option where you can ensure each child up to $200,000, however most of them will only allow you to have the same sum insured for all your children.
How does the Child Life Insurance option work?
If you include this option as part of your life, TPD or trauma policy and your child suffers from one of the specified critical illnesses (as defined in the product disclosure statement), is diagnosed with a terminal illness or passes away, you will generally receive a lump sum benefit for the sum insured up to a maximum of $200,000.
How much does child cover cost?
The number of children you wish to insure and how much cover you want will affect how much your child cover costs. It may only cost a few dollars extra per month to insure your children.
In some cases, insurers may offer a child trauma discount if you take out the cover above a certain amount.
Products with Free Built-In Child Cover
| Insurer | Amount of Adult Cover | Level of Free Child Cover | Premiums* |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIA | $1,000,000 | Lessor of 10% sum insured or $20,000 | $35.24 |
| BT | $1,000,000 | $27.31 | |
| MLC | $1,000,000 | $40.24 | |
| OnePath | $1,000,000 | $41.95 | |
| TAL | $1,000,000 | $10,000 | $34.89 |
| NEOS | $1,000,000 | $10,000 | $34.60 |
| Zurich | $1,000,000 | $36.11 |
Source: Life Insurance Direct comparison engine (April 2021)
* Premiums are based on a 40-year old, non-smoking, white-collar professional, female, having $1,000,000 worth of life insurance on a stepped premium. Refer to PDS for more information.
Products with Optional Child Cover Added
| Insurer | Amount of Adult Cover | Amount of Optional Child Cover | Premiums* |
|---|---|---|---|
| BT | $1,000,000 | $100,000 | $37.66 |
| AIA | $1,000,000 | $100,000 | $46.04 |
| TAL | $1,000,000 | $100,000 | $47.90 |
| OnePath | $1,000,000 | $100,000 | $47.14 |
| Zurich | $1,000,000 | $100,000 | $49.58 |
| NEOS | $1,000,000 | $100,000 | $49.90 |
| MLC | $1,000,000 | $100,000 | $54.56 |
| CommInsure | $1,000,000 | $100,000 | $64.31 |
Source: Iress comparison engine (April 2021)
*Premiums are based on a 40-year old, non-smoking, white-collar professional, female, having $1,000,000 worth of life insurance and $100,000 of optional trauma cover on a stepped premium. Refer to PDS for more information.
Other things to consider:
Superannuation
Generally child cover is not available as part of any policy held inside a superannuation environment.
Frequently asked questions & answers
Do I need to insure my child?
No, although it’s not strictly necessary to apply for cover for your child, as their parent you’re responsible for their well being. By purchasing a trauma insurance policy for your child you are ensuring that you’ll be able to provide for them financially should they be diagnosed with a critical illness. Feel free to give us a call at 1300 135 205 to speak with a specialist about your child’s insurance requirementsWhat is Child Critical Illness insurance?
Generally, critical illness insurance for children provides a lump sum payment should your insured child pass away or be diagnosed with a terminal illness. This financial support can be used to pay for your child’s final costs, their treatment or any other unexpected costs you may encounter at this time.How long can my child stay on my life insurance?
Typically, insurers will allow you to cover your child under your family life insurance policy provided that they are between the ages of 2 and 17. If you’re not certain whether your child will be eligible for cover under your policy, it’s best to contact your insurer directly.
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Do you offer insurance for loss of jobs to cover school fees until parent(s) successfully finds another job?
Hi Dalia
Thank you for the question, unfortunately we don’t have access to any type of school fee insurance cover that covers school fees when the parent is between roles or has lost their job. The policy we do have access to which is the School Fee Protector benefit you can add onto a Life or TPD policy with AIA. This will pay a lump sum benefit towards your child’s school fees if you become totally and permanently disabled, pass away or you become terminally ill.