The management of StanbicIBTC Insurance has advised parents and guardians that the education of their ward as a future leader, is too important to be left to the vagaries of life rather a sustainable education endowment plan must be put in place to ensure this task is accomplished without any hindrance even at the death of the family breadwinner.
Citing cases of children sent out of school when life happened to the family breadwinner and school fees became impossible, Akinjide Orimolade, CE Stanbic IBTC Insurance disclosed that insights like this or sudden loss of jobs compelled the company to develop its new offering tagged ‘Education Endowment Plan’ to ensure a hitch-free education for a child either the parent or guardian is there or not.
Affirming that the best investment parents can give their children is education, the Chief Executive noted that children need the support of their parents in this regard hence the need to have an education endowment plan in place for the child in case of any eventuality that could threaten his/her education.
Speaking further on the new product and its benefits, Head, Technical, StanbicIBTC Insurance, Olufunmilayo Ogunbiyi, explained that the company’s Education Endowment Plan being unveiled is a life assurance policy with multiple benefits to the policyholder and the named beneficiary. At maturity which could span between a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of 10 years, the policyholder is paid the sum agreed with accrued interest, or at the policyholder’s demise the named beneficiary gets the sum agreed for his or her unhindered educational pursuit.
‘This guarantees that the education of the assured is achieved or at the end of the tenure, you are assured the benefit is paid to the policyholder’, Mrs. Ogunbiyi emphasised, adding that the product is flexible in all aspects as the premium could be paid as a single one-off payment or on an annual basis. The product could also be an avenue to save funds toward a target plan.
‘Stanbic IBTC Education Endowment is an endowment product that protects the continued education of a child/ward against the death of the parent/guardian. It pays out the sum assured (benefit) plus bonus upon the death or survival of the parent/guardian known as the policyholder within the policy period or at maturity of the policy’.
She describes the product as a fusion of saving and insurance plans with sustainable impact that guarantees future educational plans for children.
In a fireside chat moderated by Nicole Chikwe, a mother and TV personality; Kelvis Eikponobhoa, Head, Retail, StanbicIBTC Insurance, explained that the product is affordable and accessible to all social economic classes either as the bottom of the pyramid clients or HNI customers.
For Kelvis, all StanbicIBTC Insurance products and the new product have been designed to resonate with the customers. ‘We would partner with many schools’ PTAs, and institutions at all levels on the product. We don’t want a situation where a child will drop out of school because the breadwinner dies. We want to ensure there is a guarantee that their wards’ education is not jeopardised. We are looking at serving customers beyond our current customer base’, he noted.
Dwelling on the requirements needed to sign up for the policy, the Head of Retail highlighted that all a customer is required to do is fill out the ‘Proposal form’ and provide all the KYCs information required, adding that the value or sum envisaged for the beneficiary’s education and indicated in the proposal form will determine the premium payable. The forms are available on the company’s digital platform making it easily accessible and self-service is possible. However, it is also possible if a customer wants a hard copy of the form.
Rounding off, Kelvis warned that there are inhibitions to product, known as ‘Policy exclusion’. One such is suicide by a customer within the first two years of the contract, this voids the policy. Similarly, a customer’s failure to pay a premium nullifies the contract.
