Protection providers have been urged to do the “right thing” with 30-day newborn death exclusions from older protection policies and bring them into line with current practices.
One adviser said they had seen “a lot” of parents who were grieving the loss of a newborn child being denied a payout under their children’s cover because the child had not reached 30 days old.
Panellists at the Protection Review Conference 2025 were asked about the situation by an audience member who had taken out children’s cover, but whose child had passed away just two days before a 30-day exclusion written into their cover kicked in.
This exclusion typically does not apply to newer policies.
Do the ‘right thing’
Responding to the question, Rhys Williams, director at Quietroom (pictured centre right), said it was really difficult to take any other view that in these situations that the sector does the “right thing”.
“It’s easy for me to say that because I’m not in the situation where I have to make decisions like that, but it seems obvious to me that that’s what we should do.”
Emma Astley, owner of Cover My Bubble (pictured centre left), who set up her protection advice firm after the passing of her daughter Lillie, revealed these situations happen “a lot”.
“I’ve had people in the last 12 months that had a policy and their baby passed away within 30 days and because of that clause, the insurer didn’t pay out, so it happens a lot,” Astley said.
“You probably think you have child cover. You’ve had it included in your policy, but you wouldn’t have known about that 30 day clause.
“That’s why it’s so important to review people’s policies – especially if they’re going through a pregnancy journey because unfortunately these things do happen.”