Children are constantly preoccupied with exploring the world. Even the most diligent parents can’t stop accidents or illnesses – and, unfortunately, sometimes deaths – from happening. It is therefore worthwhile ensuring that children also have adequate insurance. In this part of our “In case of an emergency: protecting your family properly” series, we explain what you can put in place for your children.
INSURANCE PLAN FOR CHILDREN: SO THAT RISKS DO NOT BECOME EXPENSIVE
When considering your healthy, active child, the last thing you think about is disability and death. Nevertheless, you should think about insuring your child against certain risks because health insurance and disability insurance benefits are often limited.
COMPULSORY HEALTH INSURANCE
In Switzerland, health insurance is compulsory and your child must be covered by a health insurer from the date of his or her birth. You can conclude this policy retroactively up to three months after the birth. If you would like to conclude supplementary insurance for alternative medicine or dental corrections, this is best done as soon as possible. Health insurers may deny cover to customers for supplementary insurance if they are found to have a health impairment.
Tip: Orthodontic treatment can easily cost more than CHF 10,000. This supplementary insurance is worthwhile for most children.
Please note: from the age of three, you must have your child examined by a dentist in order to conclude this insurance. If a misalignment is found at this time, the insurer can deny cover for your child or apply restrictions.
INSURANCE FOR CHILDREN – DO CHILDREN NEED TO BE INSURED AGAINST DEATH AND DISABILITY?
If your child becomes disabled due to an illness or accident, health insurance will pay for treatment. Your child is subsequently entitled to nursing care contributions and helplessness benefits under disability insurance. These contributions are relatively modest and only cover limited costs. If you have concluded risk insurance for your child, he or she will receive an additional pension or lump sum. This helps to finance special therapies, accessibility modifications at home or care.
You can conclude risk insurance for children from your health insurer or other insurance. There are a number of different policies: while some of them only cover the risks of disability and death resulting from an accident, others also include illness as a cause. The premium for the latter is more comprehensive and not much more expensive.
Good to know: In children, most disabilities are caused by an illness. If you conclude risk insurance for your child, choose a policy that insures illness and accident as causes. With the KIDS insurance plan for children, we offer a modular solution that you can flexibly configure to suit your requirements.
Find out more
A loss of earnings in the family can lead to major financial problems. In the first part of our series, we tell you how to make sure that you and your family have adequate financial protection against these risks.
What happens if the main breadwinner of the family becomes disabled? In part two of our “In case of an emergency: protecting your family properly” series, we explain the most important things to consider.
One topic that families often avoid talking about is death, but families really should be prepared for this tragic eventuality. We tell you how to do this in part four.