Kids are precious from the very start of their lives as babies, right through to when they are teens and then young adults.

Protecting them with sufficient insurance coverage can be tricky as some parents have no idea whatsoever about where to even begin.

Here are five types of insurance plans that every parent should give some consideration to.

Health and life insurance

Health insurance provides coverage for medical costs, hospitalisation costs and worse case scenarios like critical illness or disabilities.

It provides preventive treatment, such as regular check-ins and examinations, alongside compensation for diseases and accidents.

It can get a little tricky trying to choose between the seemingly endless types of health insurance policies. Depending on the company or agent, you can expect a whole host of plans with varying features and premiums.

Arguably, one of the best options would be a life insurance policy that includes medical coverage as a rider.

The term rider simply means that the policy can “ride” on the existing policy, which leads to higher coverage amounts for your child. Although premiums are higher, in the long term it’s cost-saving when compared to other standalone medical coverage plans.

There are several benefits to subscribing for medical coverage with the added rider component. For one, there are payer waivers which means that premiums won’t need to be paid if the payer dies.

It usually also comes with better medical coverage plans or more extensive coverage. What’s more, life insurance policies can also include an investment or savings component which allows subscribers to enjoy added cash incentives.

As a general rule of thumb, premiums go up the more features are included in the plan. Premiums are lower for basic plans without additional features.

Young and active individuals need lesser coverage than individuals with families, elderly people, or people with chronic health conditions.

Retirement savings, pension amounts and even social security insurance may be negatively affected for caregivers who give up professional growth to provide care for a child with special needs.

A life insurance policy on the life of the child will help to replace the lost earnings and retirement accounts of the caregiver if the death of the child occurs.

In most cases, insurance proceeds will be charged to the appointed beneficiaries free of any income tax when the insured person dies.

Getting a life insurance policy will help cover funeral costs and make up for missed income opportunities, but it is not easy to think about.

Prenatal insurance

Insurance protection for your child can begin even before his or her birth. Pregnant moms are able to sign up for this as early as 18 weeks into their term.

For the most part, prenatal plans allow for the issuing of a lump sum of cash if subscribers experience complications with pregnancy or other problems like congenital diseases after the child is born.

Prenatal insurance often includes other perks like hospital care benefits in case of hospitalisation.

Education insurance

While mostly used for education, this type of insurance actually acts more like a long-term savings and protection plan that reinforces the financial safety of children.

Education insurance plans function like a standard savings account except that it offers lump-sum benefits or payouts upon maturity of the child (or at the end of the policy’s term).

Education costs are notoriously high, increasing with every passing year. It may be a good idea to plan ahead of time if you want your child to get a solid headstart on his or her academic journey.

In general, parents can start looking into education insurance policies for their children from 14 days all the way up to 14 years of age.

From there, education insurance usually covers the child up until around 18 to 23 years of age.

Education insurance is essentially broken up into two main types; endowment policies and investment-linked policies.

• Endowment policies function as standard premium policies with one aim – to save over the long term for a specific purpose (in this case education).
• Term length could range from 10 or 15 to 20 years, and while some protection components might be offered, it’s usually quite low. The main objective here is to compile as much savings as technically possible so you may enjoy higher returns compared to standard bank deposit rates.
• Endowment policies are offered as non-participating (offering small interest rates and guaranteed payouts at the term’s end) and participating policies (policies that participate actively in life insurance fund’s profits).
• Investment-linked policies carry a higher risk, but offer elements of investment-compiled benefits for potentially higher rewards. Unfortunately, many education insurance plans’ returns are less attractive in Malaysia.

Special needs coverage

If your child has special needs, such as autism spectrum disorder and ADHD, it can be very difficult to get insurance coverage.

An option for coverage is to look for insurance that covers without underwriting such as universal-life endowments.

Below are some Malaysian insurers which do cover for special needs:

• AIA A-Life Joy has the option to add on A-Plus BabyCare rider which provides coverage for autism and ADHD
• FWD SpecialCare Direct takaful life coverage designed to cover children with learning disabilities associated with autism, ADHD and Tourette syndrome.

Another option is by getting international health insurance which may provide coverage depending on the severity of the condition. The costs for international health insurance premiums are much higher and charged in USD.

This article first appeared in MyPF. Follow MyPF to simplify and grow your personal finances on Facebook and Instagram.