Parents are risking the financial security of their families should they become seriously ill by not buying critical illness (CI) protection.
Of the small percentage of those who have purchased insurance, a significant number did not know if it included cover for their children.
According to a study by Ageas, only one in twenty (6%) parents has a CI policy in place and one third (31%) of those did not know its coverage of children's diseases.
It estimated that almost 300,000 parents needed to check their policy to see if it extends to covering their children.
And of the one million parents who have a CI policy in place, 35% of those are just themselves covered by their CI policy.
Surprisingly, only one third of parents with cover (33%) have a comprehensive CI policy includes children as standard, in the event they become critically ill or seriously disabled.
The provider also found that parents in the West Midlands were most aware about whether their CI policy covered their children (56%), while just 10% of those in the East Midlands were certain.
Andy Milburn, head of marketing at Ageas Protect, said IFAs had the chance to educate parents in the availability of children's cover.
"Most advisers will be aware that CI policies available from the majority of providers include children's cover," he said.
"This gives us all an opportunity to educate existing CI customers on the value of their existing cover, especially parents.
"As an industry we need to work together to ensure these vital policy features and benefits, which could make a real difference to a family's situation, are both highlighted throughout the buying process, and that customers are reminded, year after year."
Milburn continued by urging insurers and advisers to contact existing customers to remind them of the key features and benefits, including children's cover, included with their policies.
"Before replacing any policy with a newer product, customers may need support to understand the features and benefits of the new policy," he continued.
"An existing policy may offer deeper definitions for the adult conditions covered compared to newer products available today.
"If the older policy does not include children's critical illness cover, then advisers could help the customer to top up their old policy by arranging a new policy alongside the older policy that does includes children's cover," he added.
