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Knowledge is power

ARTICLE BY

  • Kresantha Pillay
  • Chief Specialist for Risk Products and Lifestyle Protector
  • Liberty

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Educating a child is a parent’s biggest commitment and at least two decades of every parent’s life is dominated by this endeavour. This is why putting protection in place is so important. So much is at stake during the process – it’s a completely unpredictable road for any parent.

Offering effective long-term cover for a child’s future means that it needs to continually evolve with the social and economic environment that education exists in. And not just locally, but internationally as well.

Specialist products, like Liberty’s EduCator, are designed to meet these evolving needs so that parents can feel completely secure that their child’s future will be taken care of should they not be in a position to do so themselves. They pay for a child’s school fees from pre-primary through primary school, secondary school and up to their tertiary education.

Starting the conversation

Education cover can act as a unique entry point for client engagement. For example, EduCator Xtra is available as standalone cover, allowing parents to opt for this educational benefit without the need for any additional Lifestyle Protector cover. So, it provides an excellent opportunity to introduce clients to the full suite of risk solutions. Its simplified requirements and compelling cashback feature (if there is no claim, the client is guaranteed to get the nominal value of all premiums paid back on the policy anniversary following the child beneficiary’s 18th birthday) make it a highly attractive offering, designed to protect the financial well-being of families.

Education cover in practice

A real example of how the cover has evolved was when the Covid-19 pandemic first emerged in 2020. We had to take a real look at the way EduCator worked and ask, what do parents need from us right now? Much of the answer was cover for homeschooling, including the costs of everything kids might need to be educated at home while schools were shut down.

The same applies to the current emigration trend, which is on many people’s minds right now. We’ve enhanced EduCator so any child in claim can continue to receive education overseas should the parents or guardians move abroad.

Evolving cover 

Education cover does not only cover local schooling. With international lifestyles being an important consideration among many South Africans families, many parents want their children to be educated at leading universities abroad. Products such as the EduGlobal cover we have recently added, extend the current list of international universities to include more universities across Europe, North America, Australasia and the Middle East. 

Cover is also not limited to public schools. Beyond primary schooling, clients can now include many desirable private schools that come with higher fees in their cover. So, this cover offers clients a higher benefit maximum limit where the school tuition fees are above the current independent benefit maximum limits.

A child’s educational journey will be completely covered when it is insured by comprehensive education cover, and as parents, you can rest assured that whatever happens, your child will get the best you can possibly give them on this journey.

At Liberty, our commitment to giving parents the most comprehensive benefits and services to meet their evolving needs remains a cornerstone of our relationship. Education is a long journey for any family, and we’re always committed to keeping ahead of changes and shifts in the educational environment so parents can relax knowing that we’re thinking about them and what they will need if the time ever comes that our benefits can help them.

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