NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 9 – Learning institutions can now partner with parents to take up low cost insurance to cover children against the myriad of risks that they are exposed to during school hours.
This follows the launch of a Student Accident Cover by Eagle Africa Insurance Brokers that will benefit school-going children aged between three and 20 years.
Eagle Africa’s Divisional Director for Express Service Lucy Ngugi explained that schools will take up the cover, but parents will fork out Sh450 or Sh750 a year (depending in their preferred cover) to insure their child against accidents when going to or from school or even during any school-related activities.
“We thought of selling peace of mind to schools such that (teachers) can concentrate in teaching with the knowledge that if something happens, you really don’t have to worry about who will pay the bills,” emphasised the manager of the policy.
With the knowledge that accidents are inevitable, the insurance broker in partnership with Jubilee Insurance which will shoulder the risks developed the product whose benefits include medical expenses following the accident, permanent total disability, tuition of up to 16 weeks in case of absence from school and fitting of artificial limbs.
The launch comes two weeks after several accidents involving school buses were reported in various parts of the country with the most serious one involving students from Loreto Convent Msongari which claimed the lives of three children and left a dozen more injured.
The product which was developed last year has been received well in the market with about 10 schools taking up the cover. The firm is in negotiation with various hospitals across the country which will treat such students on credit and get the reimbursed later on.
Chief Executive Officer Sam Ncheeri hope this will make the cover more attractive to many institutions and parents and pledged that they would be flexible to cater for the various needs of their clients.
Through this initiative, he reckoned that they would be playing a part in increasing insurance penetration in the country.
“The more parents feel confident and comfortable that they have a peace of mind, the more they think about other insurance products and so we think it is an avenue through which we should be able to make insurance more wide spread than it is in this country,” Mr Ncheeri hoped.
The company is however alive to the fact that despite the development of innovative products such as their Student Accident Cover, the penetration levels of insurance in the country are still low as validated by a recent survey.
To counter this, the CEO told Capital Business that they plan to carry out massive campaigns across the country to raise awareness among the public about the importance of taking up insurance covers.
The new product will also be promoted within the region where Eagle Africa has a presence.
