As school violence becomes legal issue, insurers cash in | #schoolsaftey #kids #parents #children

 

While school violence continues to affect students and their parents, the insurance sector is moving to support more full-scale litigation among youngsters and even school staff. Experts, however, warn that safeguards are needed to prevent misuse of such insurance programs.

 

One parent, for example, started looking into a school violence insurance program after their fifth-grader was mired in a 25 million won ($16,580) lawsuit for repeatedly asking to borrow items and was accused of “having a look” at another student in their school.

 


 

The local education office concluded that no action was necessary, but the other student’s parent did not accept the decision and filed a damage lawsuit. The court dismissed the case in full last month. 

 

After going through both the committee process and a civil lawsuit, the parent faced significant psychological and financial burdens, leading them to
 seek insurance coverage.

 

The number of insurance cases related to school violence has been rising sharply, according to general insurers.

 

The number of insurance payouts related to school violence among five major nonlife insurers — Meritz, Lotte, Samsung, Hyundai and KB — surged from 231 cases in 2021 to 1,297 in 2022, 3,388 in 2023 and 3,443 in 2025. This represents a nearly fifteenfold rise in just five years. 

 

Meritz Tower in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [YONHAP]

 

The total financial amount of insurance payouts during that same period has more than doubled, from 230.6 million won in 2021 to 510.62 million won in 2025. The increasing pace has accelerated further this year, with 2,056 cases already recorded in January and February alone.

 

The rapid growth of the school violence insurance market is tied to recent changes in the college admissions system. As school violence records have become a decisive factor in admissions outcomes, demand for insurance to manage litigation risks has increased.

 

In response, insurers are expanding coverage related to school violence. Carrot General Insurance, through its “Carrot School Guard Insurance”
(translated), covers not only treatment costs for victims but also administrative and legal representation fees and compensation for permanent injury.

 

Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance and Samsung Life Insurance also provide up to 500,000 won in treatment costs through riders in children’s insurance policies, depending on the results of committee deliberations. Even in cases involving the accused party, compensation may be available through personal liability coverage riders if the act was not intentional, drawing strong interest from parents.

 

“In school violence cases, both sides tend to avoid having records left, whether being the accused or the victim, but as such incidents are so frequent, both insurance subscriptions and payouts are increasing,” said an insurance industry official.

 

However, students are not the only ones seeking coverage, as insurance products are also emerging to protect school staff involved in disputes related to school violence committees.

 

Hana Insurance obtained a six-month exclusive usage right in June 2025 for a rider covering legal fees for criminal defense in child abuse cases within its “Hana The First School Staff Safety Insurance” (translated).

 

Education office and police officials, along with students and parents, participate in a joint campaign to prevent school violence and deepfake sex crimes in Daegu on Oct. 8. 2024. [NEWS1]

 

This product covers civil lawsuit attorney fees of up to 15 million won, administrative lawsuit attorney fees of up to 15 million won, criminal defense attorney fees in child abuse cases of up to 5 million won if the individual is found not guilty and fines for professional negligence of up to 20 million won. As of 2026, about 9,700 school staff members have enrolled in liability coverage while performing their duties.

 

While insurance has enabled more proactive legal responses, there are also cases where it is misused, distorting its original purpose.

 

For instance, there have been cases in which a student repeatedly filed school violence reports against the entire student body or minor disputes arising from romantic relationships between students escalated into referrals to school violence committees and civil lawsuits.

 

As a result, the committee is increasingly becoming a venue for legal disputes rather than conflict resolution, raising concerns that its ability to respond swiftly and firmly to serious cases involving school violence and injury is being weakened.

 

Sung Yun-sook, a senior research fellow at the National Youth Policy Institute, suggested that responses to school violence should move away from a litigation- and insurance-centered approach and toward strengthening the mediation role of schools and teachers.

 

“Minor cases should consider separating records from student life logs and expanding reflection periods and relationship recovery programs, especially for lower-grade elementary students,” Sung said. “As parental perception is often at the core of the problem, local governments and education offices must cooperate to strengthen parent education.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY KIM DA-YOUNG [[email protected]]