Best Personal Accident Insurance Plans for Children

This post was originally posted on Planner Bee.

Parenthood can be all-consuming. The days and the nights can feel so long but somehow in the blink of an eye, you are now witnessing your child’s first milestones. Beyond trying to keep a tiny human being alive, parents also bear the mental load of anticipating their children’s needs and this includes ensuring their well-being is looked after and protected with the essential insurance plans.

Here, we look at personal accident insurance for children and the considerations to be made before committing to a plan for your little one.

Read more: What Insurance Should You Get For Your Child?

Best personal accident plans for children: an overview

Most affordable: Income PA Secure

If you would like to seek alternative treatments such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, physiotherapist or chiropractor with no additional premium:

• Manulife ReadyProtect
• Sompo PA Junior
• AIA Star Protector Plus
• Income PA Assurance
• Prudential PRUPersonal Accident

If you would like to seek coverage for National Service/Reservist:

• Sompo PA Junior (only applicable for Plan Teddy and Plan Jumbo)
• AIA Start Protector Plus (only applicable for Plan 2 and Plan 3)
• Manulife ReadyProtect
• Prudential PRUPersonal Accident

Plans which provide daily hospitalisation income or cash benefit for specified diseases with no additional premium:

• AIA Star Protector Plus
• GE GREAT Junior Protect
• Sompo PA Junior
• Income PA Assurance
• Income PA Secure

Plans which provide childcare or school fee subsidy for fees incurred when child is hospitalised:

• Sompo PA Junior
• Income PA Secure (available as an optional benefit)

Why you should consider getting personal accident insurance for your child

1. Exposure to infectious diseases from school and childcare

If your child is of school-going age or you plan to send them to childcare, it is almost certain that they would catch a bug or two (more often than you’d like!) at least at the beginning when they are still building their immunity. Common infections besides the common cold would include Covid-19 and the dreaded hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), which is on the rise.

A child down with HFMD typically takes about seven to 10 days to make full recovery and you may be required by the school to visit the doctor for a second time to get a doctor’s letter stating that your child is clear of the virus before returning to school. Unfortunately, there are various strains of the enterovirus so while your child may develop immunity against one of the strains, he or she may still contract the highly contagious disease again in future.

Most personal accident insurance plans in Singapore cover HFMD and Covid-19 so you can have a peace of mind when nursing your child back to health.

Read more: A Parent’s Guide to Childcare Subsidies in Singapore

2. Exposure to illnesses when going out

Do you like to dine out with your children? Even at reputable restaurants, food safety lapses can occur and food poisoning or gastroenteritis is no fun for both adults and children.

Love heading outdoors or just taking a leisurely stroll in the neighbourhood? The number of dengue cases surged to over 5,000 cases in the first quarter 2024. In the event that your child needs to be hospitalised due to dengue fever, Zika virus or due to a food poisoning episode, some personal accident insurance plans such as the GREAT Junior Protector from Great Eastern provide a daily hospital cash benefit on top of your child’s hospitalisation coverage, if any.

3. Accidents can happen

Did you know that the top three causes of children injury deaths from 2012-2023 were due to drowning, fall from heights and road traffic injuries? While these are worst case scenarios and no parent should have to go through this, minor incidents are often par for the course.

When considering a personal accident plan for your child, you may look into coverage for animal bites and fractures. For example, Prudential’s PruPersonal Accident offers an additional Fracture Care coverage of at least $25,000.

When is the best time to get your child insured with a personal accident plan?

There is really no single definitive answer. The decision largely depend on your family’s lifestyle needs and habits.

Some may be of the opinion that you will not need a personal accident plan until your child is more active or has met developmental milestones such as pulling to stand. What comes next would be standing unsupported and then taking their wobbly first steps. While we do our very best to protect them, falls and accidents happen and being adequately protected with a personal accident plan would be encouraged.

In other cases, some parents may avoid bringing their newborn out for gatherings and outings in the first few months, hence the chances of exposure to diseases and incidents would be low. For only-child families, parents can consider a personal accident plan before your child starts attending childcare for reasons mentioned earlier in the article.

However, circumstances may differ if you have older children who are also school-going children. Inevitably, the older children will bring home germs and illnesses from school and despite your best efforts to separate the children, it can be logistically challenging to do so. It is also hard to keep a newborn at home if you do not have a village to help while you bring your older children out on weekends for activities.

All these would mean that the younger child will have more exposure and a higher likelihood of incidents and contracting transmittable illnesses. With this in mind, a personal accident plan can allay worries to some extent. A good number of insurers provide coverage for infants from as young as two weeks or 15 days.

If you already have a personal accident insurance plan for yourself…

If you are already insured under a personal accident insurance plan, you can check the terms and conditions of your plan for any benefits that can be extended to your child. For example, Singlife Personal Accident offers free coverage for your child for up to 30% of the applicable limits under your policy. If you are insured with Income’s PA Assurance, you can enjoy a 40% discount for your child’s premium by insuring under the same policy with your or your spouse.

Conclusion

So should you get a personal accident plan for your child? Paediatrician visits can be costly and even if you visit a PaedsENGAGE general practitioner, repeat visits for a long bout of illness or even multiple episodes of falling ill can be financially burdensome in the long run. A personal accident insurance plan can help to defray some of these expenses.

As with all insurance plans, affordability and suitability are key when picking the right ones to protect yourself against the unexpected and unpredictable. The best plan will be the one that aligns with your family’s needs and budget. The Planner Bee team is here to help if you want to find out more about protection for your loved ones. Email us at [email protected] today.

Read more: How to plan out your spending on your kids’ education in Singapore