School Fee Protection - why would I need this?

[VenetiaLanyon]

Included in the bill for DD's school is a premium for "School Fee Protection", which provides cover in the event that DD is absent from school for more than a few days and also provides personal accident cover.

Why would I need this; is it to cover childcare costs if DD is off school? Has anyone found this useful?

Thanks

hmm, I was going to say it was in case Damerel gambles his estates away, but it doesn't sound like it is for that after all. Dunno.

Thanks all; think that the premiums on that would be higher than the school fees, RillaBlythe....

As far as I understand its to cover the fees if your DC is off school especially for a considerable length of time e.g. broke his leg and was In hospital for three months you would still be expected to pay the fees.

We get the form too and recycle it

We take it out, but have never needed it (yet).

I had glandular fever as a teenager and was off school for ages, DH once broke his collar bone playing rugby and was off for months, so it just seemed a sensible thing for us to do.

I met a parent of a child who had just started at private school and had a brain tumour, lots of time off, fees had to be paid (and one parent had to stop work to care for the child), I guess the insurance is for stuff like that.

We never took it out, but I know people who did and who claim more than their premiums back each year. If your child is prone to regular colds etc. & is off school with them then its probably worth it - If they are off for 5 days (including weekend days, so not necessarily a whole school week) then you can claim, and you can self certificate, so don't need a doctors note etc.

At our school the insurance is automatically added on (a requirement of the insurer) and then parents are given the option to opt out.

Some go through and never, ever claim. Some however are unlucky. The scheme will pay back a proportion of fees for time off. We have had a child had a car accident and could not come back to school until a few weeks into term, a glandular fever case, very sadly a leukaemia case - this is where the scheme can really pay off as there would be no other remission of fees for absence - they would all still have to be paid.

The scheme also includes an element of life cover in that a year's fees would be paid by the insurers if one of the fee payers were to die (a cheery thought I know, but not beyond the realms of possibility!).

Day pupils - 5 calendar days continuous absence, boarders 7.

If an absence is 15 days or more then a doctor must countersign the form.

It's a tough call when times are hard - if you have a robust child who is never ill you might want to take the chance, but you just never know....

Forgot - very important to realise no pre-existing medical conditions are covered.

At dd's school the premiums are pretty cheap and it pays up after 5 days of absence inc weekends - we've ended up claiming from it twice in the two years she's been there - once for fracture and once for nasty skin infection so we've recouped many times the cost so well worth it!

The claims process is handled by the school office triggered by the registers and all I had to do was sign a form and bank the cheque!

We didn't include this with DD as she was at a day school & we felt it wasn't necessary but we included it when DS started boarding & how grateful we're we! He was struck down with glandular fever in yr 10 & was off school for nearly a month. The claim process was easy & the refunded money was included on DS next term's invoice.