# Primary Schools insisting on mandatory life insurance.



## csirl (23 Feb 2012)

My eldest child is due to start school next September. 

This week, I got a letter in the post saying that my child will be given a place in our local primary school subject to certain things i.e. send in copy of birth cert and paying money for certain items, being done by a certain date (2 weeks time) and that if these things are not done, her place will be offered to a child on their waiting list (I assume that they are oversubscribed). 

While I have no difficulty with most of these items, there is one which I am annoyed about. 

For this particular school, which is a normal non-fee paying local primary school, it is mandatory for parents to take out and pay for a personal life insurance type policy in respect of their individual child with a designated multinational insurance company. And forms and payment slips for forwarding to the insurance company are included in the list of things that must be done by the deadline.

Apart from being asked to pay for something which I do not want nor need, I am concerned about the fact that by signing up for this policy, I (my child) will be subject to the usual terms and conditions attached to this type of policy i.e. that the insurance company must be informed of all insurable incidents and must be involved in their resolution. In the unfortunate event of something happening to my child, I do not want a third party, who is conflicted as they also insure the school, compromising my ability to e.g. get necessary medical treatment paid for.

What’s worse is that this insurance provides absolutely no benefit to the child in the event of an incident at school as any claim made will be on the schools own policy and you can only claim once i.e. if medical treatment were to cost e.g. 20k, you will get the 20k from the schools policy so this policy will not pay out – you cannot claim 20k from each as its against the principals of insurance. 

I think this sends a very bad message out to parents – that the school is forcing you to deal with a third party insurance company and is compromising your ability to get what’s best for your child if something does happen. 

We’re past the deadline for realistically securing a place in an alternative school, so not sure what to do. If I make an issue of this and/or don’t pay the insurance company, my daughter will be without a school place.

Is this something that is common with primary schools now?


----------



## Purple (23 Feb 2012)

That's very strange indeed!
I'd say they'd be on dodgy ground if they didn't let her in because you didn't take out the policy.
What happens if you cancel the policy after she starts in the school?


----------



## Ceist Beag (23 Feb 2012)

I've never heard of anything like this before csirl and as Purple said, I think the school would be on dodgy ground trying to enforce this particular requirement. Can you speak to any parents who have children in the school already to see if they had such a requirement when they enrolled their children and how they handled it?


----------



## LDFerguson (23 Feb 2012)

In our local primary school there was a campaign via the school to get us to sign up for a personal accident policy for our two kids. Given that I've a professional interest in insurance, I had a look at the policy conditions and decided that the particular policy wasn't great so we declined.  Nothing more was said.  

I'd have to research the matter in detail but I suspect that the Central Bank wouldn't be terribly pleased to hear of a consumer being forced into buying an insurance policy.  Aside from motor insurance, there is no other mandatory insurance in Ireland.  The Consumer Protection Code has several provisions forbidding other forms of pressure-selling, e.g. a bank making it a condition of a loan that you take out insurance with their insurance company.  As a tactic this sounds similar.  

If you're not happy with the cover being offered, I'd be inclined to put it in writing to the school that you do want your child to have the place but you don't want the insurance.


----------



## Seagull (23 Feb 2012)

Try calling the principal, and asking what the reason is for the insurance. It seems very strange. Most schools would have insurance in place that covers the children during any scheduled school activity.


----------



## terrysgirl33 (23 Feb 2012)

The only insurance I have heard of, and it isn't mandatory, is accident insurance.  This covers the child 24 hours a day, so costs that aren't usually covered by health insurance are covered by this.  It costs about €8 a year and is generally considered good value.


----------



## T McGibney (23 Feb 2012)

I always thought that there was an ethical/child welfare prohibition of life insurance for children in that an adult should never benefit financially from the death of a child. Am I mistaken?


----------



## LDFerguson (23 Feb 2012)

T McGibney said:


> I always thought that there was an ethical/child welfare prohibition of life insurance for children in that an adult should never benefit financially from the death of a child. Am I mistaken?


 
Whatever about the ethics question, it's not prohibited.  Many adult life insurance policies feature children's death benefit as a standard feature.


----------



## huskerdu (23 Feb 2012)

I am guessing that the policy in question is the _*Brennan's accident insurance*_ that is offered in a lot of schools. 

I have never heard of it being obligatory and I would be livid if my school tried to make it obligatory. 

As LDFerguson has said, its not a great policy, but it is cheap (annual premium of €5 or €8 depending on the option chosen).

I bet Brennans make a fortune on it. Its a personal accident policy, not a life assurance policy, but it does pay out in the case of death in an accident. 

If the accident was your child tripping and falling in the school yard, you are not automatically insured under the school policy unless you sue and prove negligence on thr part of the school.

It pays out in case of loss of sight/limbs/hearing as a result of an  accident. Also. medical expenses including restorative dental work. Its  the restorative dental work that had me interested), but only if not recoverable from another source.


----------



## PaddyBloggit (23 Feb 2012)

Some schools don't even ask for parents to pay it. They pay for all the children automatically and the premium is covered by whatever contribution they charge at the beginning of the school year.

Schools also make money out of it. By having all pupils on the same cover and by doing the transaction via the insurer's website a discount is given to the school.

Anytime I've dealt with the scheme it's been offered to parents and wasn't obligatory.

Some more reading for you:

*Allianz:*

*
Brennan's:*
http://www.pupilcover.ie/


----------



## ajapale (23 Feb 2012)

This interesting thread is not really LOS material. If the OP does not object I propose moving it to insurance.

aj
mod


----------



## csirl (24 Feb 2012)

No objection.


----------



## ajapale (24 Feb 2012)

Moved.


----------



## Sandals (24 Feb 2012)

My daughter came home few weeks back and said her classroom won a smart board because the school were entered into a competition as they had been so many years with the insurance company. I pay the fee voluntarily.


----------



## wbbs (24 Feb 2012)

It's a long time now since my daughter was in school but there was an optional insurance policy, as it was cheap I took it out.  She fell one day, not at school but during school hours and hurt her shoulder.  She needed physio and the policy did pay a lump sum towards it, so depending on what is covered and how much, it might be worth it.


----------



## fobs (24 Feb 2012)

My daughter has the schools policy with Allianz - €8 a year.
My daughter fell off her bike (outside of school hours) and chipped her front tooth. All dental work to repair said tooth was covered as was the initial doctors consultation fee.


----------



## huskerdu (24 Feb 2012)

fobs said:


> My daughter has the schools policy with Allianz - €8 a year.
> My daughter fell off her bike (outside of school hours) and chipped her front tooth. All dental work to repair said tooth was covered as was the initial doctors consultation fee.



Covering the cost of restorative dental work is the only reason I paid for the policy. However, I reckon that it is a massive money earner for insurance companies. The number of payouts would be tiny compared to the number of kids insured each year.  

Lots of people do pay for it, but I agree with the OP that for a school to make it obligatory is outrageous.  I would not accept this.


----------



## TreeTiger (24 Feb 2012)

csirl said:


> ... any claim made will be on the schools own policy ...


I'm fairly certain that a claim on the school's policy will only be paid out on where negligence on the part of the school can be proven.  So if something happens (as accidents do), and it's no-one's fault, it could be expensive for the parent, and this is where the type of insurance you refer to comes in.

As far as I am aware, there are two types of policies offered to parents through schools, one during normal school hours and the other being 24/7.  I don't think negligence needs to be proven in these cases.  

There is a discount offered if all pupils are included which is probably why the principal in this case is trying to make everyone pay.  The Department of Education would likely not encourage principals to do this and I imagine schools are required to allow parents opt out.

It might be worth giving the principal a call to clarify, and I would also suggest you ask for details of the cover involved.  For about €7? it may well be worth it.


----------



## ajapale (24 Feb 2012)

csirl said:


> it is mandatory for parents to take out and pay for a _*personal life insurance type policy*_ in respect of their individual child with a designated multinational insurance company.



Hi csirl,

Can you confirm that it is indeed a_* life insurance type policy*_ that the school is requiring? or is it a _*Brennan's accident insurance style policy
*_(described above) which pays out in the event of death following an accident_*?*_ 
aj


----------



## csirl (27 Feb 2012)

ajapale said:


> Hi csirl,
> 
> Can you confirm that it is indeed a_* life insurance type policy*_ that the school is requiring? or is it a _*Brennan's accident insurance style policy*_
> (described above) which pays out in the event of death following an accident_*?*_
> aj


 
Its similar to this, but different company.


----------

