Ahead of new academic session in September, forward looking insurance companies are partnering, Parents, Schools and Parents Teacher’s Associations to get for their children and pupils education protection plan.
Such insurance protection will enable the covered children have uninterrupted education in the event of any of the parents passing on, lose employment or on permanent disability due to accident.
According to the insurers, the policy will enable the insurance companies help parents achieve the dreams they have wished for their children or ward in their education despite any of the unforeseen circumstances.
In one of the arrangements, the Nigerian subsidiary of Old Mutual Limited (OML) in recognition of the role of education in social and economic development for future generations has launched an Education Protection Plan (EPP or EduSure) that assists parents/guardians secure uninterrupted learning for their children/wards.
With EduSure, parents/guardians save towards an educational goal for their children/wards, while Old Mutual provides that assurance of meeting that goal in the event of the policyholder’s death.
For instance, a policyholder can elect to save a specific amount of money for ten years towards a child’s university education, EduSure ensures that the target sum is paid to the beneficiary should the policyholder, unfortunately, pass away within the policy tenure.
The policy also provides a refund of premium, delivering 40 percent of the premium to the policyholder should the beneficiary die before attaining the age of 25 and a cash back option to the policyholder for continuous payment over a 36-month period.
Commenting during the launch of the product, Alero Ladipo, the executive head, Marketing and Customer Experience, Old Mutual Nigeria, said the product is targeted at helping more Nigerian parents/guardians achieve the desired future for their children/wards no matter what life serves them in the future.
“The launch of the Old Mutual EPP is significant, coming at a time when the World Bank estimates that Nigeria has 11 million children out of school. Research has also shown that a very considerable portion of this population is children who were constrained to drop out of school due to the reversal of economic realities following the death of a breadwinning parent. We know that death is a reality for any living being, but we now have the financial tools that insulate the children from the impact of death on their future education”, she said.
Olusegun Omosehin, managing director of Old Mutual Life Assurance Limited also stated; “Investing in an education plan is an intelligent way of ensuring your child gets the best education possible without the exigencies of life interrupting their learning process. With our Education Protection Plan, parents/guardians are guaranteed that their children/wards can achieve the future they desire by simply setting aside a target amount for their future educational goals.
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“It is smart because if nothing happens with the policy term, the parent would have saved up a substantial amount to meet the financial demands for providing the kind of education they dream for their children,” Segun added.
Under the Education Protection Plan, policyholders can choose between N500,000 to N500,000,000 cover target, paying the premiums monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.
Linkage Assurance Plc in the other hand is pushing its Citadel Shield for protection of students. This Policy provides 24 hours worldwide protection to the insured student or pupil for injury caused directly by an Accident (independent or any other cause) resulting in death, disablement, medical expenses within twelve (12) calendar months from the date of accident.
This cover is eligible to any full-time student aged 3 and 21 years old, in a recognized educational institution.
Policy has features and benefits Permanent disability for N250,000; Temporary disability for N125,000; and Medical Expenses for N50,000.
AIICO Insurance has education legacy assurance plan and is structured to protect a child from being forced to end school prematurely and can also be a savings plan to accumulate sufficient funds for education.
Speaking on the benefits of the policy the company said it assures a life assurance benefit of a guaranteed sum assured to a maximum of N10 million or the balance in the policy holder’s account, whichever is higher.
It also allows a cash withdrawal option of up to 20 per cent from the legacy account to assist in the child’s education provided the policy has been in place for a minimum of five years.
