Birth Rates Plummet... Children's Insurance Soars

New Critical Illness Coverage Added
Exclusive Rights Acquisition Competition
Life Insurers Join the Race, Heating Up the Market

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Despite forecasts that South Korea's birth rate would hit a record low last year, the children's insurance market is heating up. Since the beginning of the new year, companies have been adding new coverage options or lowering the eligible age for enrollment, focusing on capturing the "Eorini" (a blend of "adult" and "child") market.

According to the insurance industry on the 12th, NH Nonghyup Property & Casualty Insurance added new coverage to its "Cost-Effective Plus Children's Insurance" starting this month. They introduced a new cardiovascular-specific disease diagnosis benefit and added coverage for targeted cancer treatment in preparation for the new comprehensive payment system, specific circulatory disease diagnosis benefits, and 144 major surgeries.

This comprehensive insurance covers from illnesses and injuries to serious diseases requiring high medical expenses (such as multiple pediatric cancers and benign brain tumors) throughout the life cycle up to age 100. It has successfully differentiated itself by maintaining higher coverage amounts than other insurers' children's insurance products, such as 20 million KRW for similar cancers and 50 million KRW for ischemic heart disease diagnosis benefits.

Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, the market leader in children's insurance, secured three exclusive usage rights for children's insurance products last year alone. For their flagship product "Good & Good Children's Comprehensive Insurance," exclusive rights were granted for diagnosis benefits related to high-risk maternal diseases (placenta previa, polyhydramnios, oligohydramnios) and diagnosis benefits for births before 31 weeks. For "Precious and Reliable Children's Insurance," exclusive rights were granted for diagnosis coverage of scoliosis and acute pyelonephritis.

They provide special coverage for low birth weight and disabled births, daily hospitalization benefits for neonatal diseases, congenital anomaly hospitalization and surgery costs, daily hospitalization benefits for illness and injury, automobile accident injuries, liability coverage during daily life, cancer diagnosis, and surgeries for 123 major diseases. Additional coverage includes cancer radiation therapy, approved targeted anticancer drug treatments, diagnosis of specific infectious diseases, and daily hospitalization benefits for influenza.

Hana Insurance also received exclusive usage rights for its "Wise Child Life Insurance," launched last year. It covers legal fees and treatment costs related to child abuse (excluding relatives). With an annual premium in the range of 10,000 to 20,000 KRW (for preschool and elementary school children), insurance enrollment can be completed within three minutes via mobile websites and applications without requiring separate documentation.

Life insurance companies are also entering the children's insurance market, which has become a flagship product for property and casualty insurers. Hanwha Life lowered the enrollment age for its "Lifetime Companion Whole Life Insurance" to 15 years old, and Kyobo Life launched "My Precious Child Insurance" last October, which covers major risks occurring throughout the life cycle from the fetal stage up to age 100.

Children's insurance is characterized by coverage from the fetal stage up to age 30, allowing insurers to secure customers ranging from infants and adolescents to those in their 20s and 30s with a single product. This has made it an indispensable market for insurers. Additionally, since parents enroll their children, the contract cancellation rate is relatively low, and as interest in child-rearing increases, sales demand remains steady.

An insurance industry official said, "Children's insurance maintains its strength partly because there are no standout hit products at the beginning of the year," adding, "Competition among products is expected to continue in the second quarter, when product revisions mainly occur."