Are My Children Covered By My Critical Illness Policy?

When most people take out a life insurance policy, the first thing they consider is the situation their dependents would be left in should they fall ill or pass away. What a lot of people don’t think about, however, is whether their children are actually covered by their policies.

Whilst neither are particularly cheerful topics, for just a moment forget about what your children would do if you fell ill and think about what you would do if they fell ill instead. Many critical illness cover policies often cover kids automatically, but in order to ensure the best protection for your children, you might need to take some extra care to make sure you choose a policy that covers them too.

How does cover for my child work? 

Critical illness cover is one of the more simple life insurance products available, but it’s still important to read the fine print! Whilst most critical illness policies cover children automatically, some policies charge an additional fee for children, whilst some don’t cover them at all. It’s a case of finding a policy that works for your individual situation. 

The policies that do cover children will typically cover them from either birth or 30 days old, to 18 or 21 years of age, and will cover them whether they are your children by birth, adoption or marriage. An important thing to consider when shopping for your policy is that health conditions from birth, conditions that pre-date the start of the policy, and hereditary illnesses normally will not be covered. 

Just as it does for adult policy holders, you’ll get paid a cash lump sum if your child is diagnosed with one of the covered illnesses, although it’s worth noting that the payouts for children are typically smaller than the payouts for adults - which makes sense as your children don’t have to pay a mortgage. If you claim against your policy for your child, you can expect between 20 - 50% of the adult rate, topping out at a maximum of £25,000. All this is of course dependent on the policy you buy.

If you’re unlucky enough to fall critically ill after claiming against your policy for your child’s critical illness, at least there’s one bit of good news: you can still claim for the full amount you’re insured for at a later date. The part of your policy that covers your children has no bearing on your part of the policy, so if life does get truly tough for you and your family, at least your policy is there to help you pick up the pieces and focus on what’s important.

Why do your children need critical illness cover?

You might think that your kids don’t need critical illness cover. After all, they don’t have car payments or rent to cover or dependents to care for. But you do. If your child is critically ill, it’s very possible that you or your partner may need to take substantial time off work or perhaps even leave your job in order to care for them. They may need full time care at home, or frequent hospital visits, or even trips across the country or abroad to see specialists. 

Whilst your job may provide you with packages to cover some of your costs, the last thing you want on top of your world being turned upside down by your child’s diagnosis is significant financial strain. Critical illness cover for your child can help you so you don’t have to worry about money while you’re worried about your little one.

Finding the right policy for you.

Choosing the right policy is vital. Picture this: you buy your insurance policy quickly, wanting to get it over and done with. You get sick, and discover that you didn’t take the necessary care when you bought your insurance, and you don’t get the amount of money you hoped. It’s tough, but you’ll survive. However, if your little one falls critically ill and you’ve chosen a policy that doesn’t cover them, you won’t get a pay out at all. Protecting your whole family is worth spending the extra time finding a policy.