A disabled child can cost millions in uninsured medical care and rehabilitation even before a cent is spent on equipping your home to manage the disability or paying for specialist care. Since in most cases one parent is required to give up their job to care for a disabled child, covering increased expenses on half a couples’ income can quickly lead to bankruptcy.

 

Disturbing as the facts may be “the death of a child does not lead to bankruptcy. A disabled child, however, does” says David Honeyman, Executive, Business Development, Guardrisk Allied Products and Services who recently dealt with a car accident case where a brain-injured child incurred uninsured medical, rehabilitation and related expenses of R1.5 million.

 

Particularly disturbing in cases of brain injury is the necessity, these days, of having cash in hand to admit the child to the right institutions at the time of the accident. Few people have half a million Rand lying around and “delays caused while collecting hospital admission fees from friends and family can exacerbate brain damage” says Honeyman.

 

And the dangers are very real.

 

“When we were at school our parents probably thought that school was the safest place for us to be” says Honeyman.

 

Today school children face different challenges, including high levels of violence in addition to the dangers of rugby and other contact sports. Children are also transported to and from school and sporting events in a country recording one of the highest driving accident rates on the planet.

 

One only has to open the paper to “read of the young Lowveld cricketer who died after being hit in the chest with a ball, or the mini-bus hit by a train while transporting kids to school in the Western Cape” says Honeyman. And even walking to school is not safe, as the recent incident in which a celebrity stands accused of killing four school children and critically injuring two others illustrates.

 

Also, since children participate more regularly in high risk activities they are more likely to suffer permanent injury and disability than adults.

 

Yet despite R50 per month buying a child R1 million of disability cover, or R150 per month buying R3 million, even parents who have disability or personal accident cover for themselves fail to see the importance of extending this to their children.

 

This is because many people also seem to think that “if their child is injured in a motor accident the Road Accident Fund (RAF) will pay them out - or they will be covered by the driver’s or the school’s liability insurance” says Honeyman.

 

But, until it is resolved in court, passenger liability may not exist and, even if it does, the medical cover provided by the RAF is restricted to expenses incurred in public health facilities. Moreover, even if parents have a valid claim in terms of the RAF, it could take 3 years or more for the claim to be accepted and processed.

 

Some schools do have personal accident policies that cover medical expenses, but these are usually restricted to around R50 000 per child.

 

The truth is that most families could manage a R10 thousand medical bill. Looking after a disabled child for 60 years will, on the other hand, requite a lot more money “either wiping out the family financially, or requiring a complete lifestyle, employment and income adjustment” warns Honeyman.

 

Another advantage of buying personal accident cover for children is that benefit payouts are linked to a financial planner. This is valuable in instances where, say, “payments are being made to a 25 year old father, or to foster parents, who might not see the importance of continuing with a disabled child’s education” says Honeyman.

 

As such, taking out personal accident cover can make the difference between a disabled child acquiring a profession or trade and caring for themselves, or remaining a liability and expense to their parents forever.