What is the Maximum Age to Buy a Child Insurance Plan?

What is a Child Insurance Plan?

A Child Insurance Plan is one of the best life insurance investments a parent can buy for their child to financially secure their future even in the case of their absence. These child plans fulfill the purpose of both life insurance coverage and investment products. It allows them to build a steady corpus and receive flexible payouts during the major milestones of their lives, like higher education, competitive exam preparation, and marriage.

Is There a Maximum Age to Buy a Child Insurance Plan?

To ensure the wholesome future of your child, insurance companies start offering Child Plans from the time your child is born. But is there a limit to the child's age up to which a parent can buy these plans?

Financial experts recommend that starting a Child Insurance Plan as early as possible is always better to save large of the premium costs and earn a big corpus on maturity. But this plan can be bought for children within a certain age limit, after which they can be covered under other life insurance plans. Generally, the maximum age of a child to buy a child plan may go up to 18-25 years of age, depending on the company policies, after which the insurance coverage puts into effect.

Best Child Insurance Policies and Their Maximum Age Eligibility^≈

Have a look at the following curated list for the age eligibility criteria for the best child insurance plans:

Disclaimer: ≈ Policybazaar does not endorse, rate or recommend any particular insurer or insurance product offered by any insurer. This list of plans listed here comprise of insurance products offered by all the insurance partners of Policybazaar. The sorting is done in alphabetical order (Fund Data Source: Value Research). For a complete list of insurers in India refer to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India website, www.irdai.gov.in

Benefits of Buying a Child Insurance Plan

Let us go through the benefits a parent will gain by subscribing to a Child Insurance Plan.

1. Backbone Support for Your Child's Education:

   Inflation-adjusted and well-accumulated child plan investments could be used to secure your child's higher education expenses over a period of time. 

   The investment under the child plan can also be utilized for coaching fees and other important events like marriage. 

2. Tax Exemption Benefits:

   A parent can claim tax deductions for a Child Insurance plan under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act of 1961.

   Section 10(D) of the IT Act also allows for tax exemption claims after the child plan returns have matured.

   If the total premiums paid, do not exceed 1/10th of the basic sum assured, then the interest gained on the securities investment is likewise excluded from tax.

3. Allows Liquidity of Funds During Emergency Situations:

   Apart from the features like tax exemption and education funding, the Child Insurance Plan also offers the flexibility to withdraw from the sum assured partially. In emergency situations like severe medical conditions, this helps ease the financial burden.

4. Ensures Income Protection for a Child:

   This plan is for children who start earning at an early age, like child actors, musicians, and sports players. They can utilize this plan to protect their income and appreciate their capital investment over the long term.

5. Acts as Collateral for an Education Loan:

   In case the child needs a loan for higher education or other related borrowings, they can keep the Child Plan amounts as collateral.

6. Financial Support After the Demise of Parents:

   In the absence of parents, a child may face financial difficulties with their daily living expenses. If the policyholder passes away before the policy term matures, the child plan allows a rider premium in which a lump sum amount of the total accumulated funds is paid to the child. In this scenario, the policy doesn't lapse or end, and the insurer is allowed to continue to pay the rest of the premiums in continuation of the plan. 

7. Rider Benefits:

   With some extra premium payments, rider benefits can be availed under the child plan. In the event of the policyholder's sudden demise or critical illness, extra benefits are made available to the child. The benefits like income benefits, premium waiver benefits, permanent disability benefits, critical illness benefits, accidental death benefits, and more are included in such plans.

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On a Final Note!

It may be noted that different child insurance plans impose different age eligibility conditions. So, a parent must ensure that they check these criteria and compare the advantages well before deciding to subscribe to any particular policy.