Birth Rates Are Plummeting... But Children's Insurance Is Rapidly Growing (Comprehensive)

New Critical Illness Coverage Added
Exclusive Rights Acquisition Competition
Life Insurers Join the Race Increasing Heat

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Despite forecasts that South Korea's birth rate will hit a record low last year, the children's insurance market is heating up. Since the new year, companies have been launching products with added coverage or lowered enrollment ages, focusing on capturing the "Eorini" (a blend of "adult" and "child") segment.

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

This comprehensive insurance covers from illnesses and injuries to serious diseases requiring high medical costs (such as multiple pediatric cancers and benign brain tumors) throughout the life cycle up to age 100. It has succeeded in differentiation 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 fees.

Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, the market leader in children's insurance, has strengthened its competitiveness to the extent that it obtained three exclusive usage rights for children's insurance products last year alone.

In its flagship product, "Good & Good Children's Comprehensive Insurance," exclusive rights were granted for coverage of high-risk maternal disease diagnosis fees (placenta previa, polyhydramnios, oligohydramnios) and diagnosis fees for births before 31 weeks. For "Precious and Reliable Children's Insurance," exclusive rights were recognized for diagnostic coverage of scoliosis and acute pyelonephritis.

Additional riders cover low birth weight and disabled births, daily hospitalization fees for neonatal diseases, congenital anomaly hospitalization and surgery fees, daily hospitalization fees for illness and injury, automobile accident injuries, personal liability during daily life, cancer diagnosis, and surgeries for 123 major diseases. Coverage was also added for chemotherapy and radiation therapy, targeted cancer drug-approved treatments, specific infectious disease diagnoses, and influenza (flu) daily hospitalization fees.

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

Life insurance companies are also entering the children's insurance market, which has become a representative product in the property and casualty insurance industry.

Kyobo Life Insurance launched "My Precious Child Insurance" last October, which covers major risks occurring throughout the life cycle from the fetal stage up to age 100. Samsung Life Insurance introduced the "Dream Tree Children's Insurance," providing comprehensive coverage for diagnosis, hospitalization, surgery, and outpatient care. Hanwha Life Insurance, although not offering a children's insurance product, lowered the enrollment age for its "Lifetime Companion Whole Life Insurance" to 15 years old, adopting a strategy to secure the children's market.

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 is steadily maintained.

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