Insurance company recommendations

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kota

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Hey peeps, I am looking to get insurance coverages for medical; life; as well as disability, anyone got any recommendations for which insurer I should go for, or any insurer that I should definitely stay far away from?

I would preferably get all 3 policies under the same insurer, but I have no problem splitting them up, the most important thing to me is that the insurer don't find all sorts of excuses to avoid a valid claim, and they don't charge an exorbitant premium for their policies.

Thanks!
 
Bestmed, Bonitas or Discovery for Medical Aid.
Liberty, Old Mutual or Discovery for Life Cover/Disability

I wouldn't go Discovery for everything because then they know your whole life BUT apparently there are tangible benefits for doing so according to a broker.
 
If you qualify for PPS it will pretty much beet out any others for life insurance and disability products as its a collective and hence is non-profit. Any profit derived flows back to you as a member into your profit share account. If you end up with any of the others any profit they make goes to the company shareholders, not you.

PPS also tends to be a lot kinder in their definitions of disability/incapacity. Some insurers game the system for partial disability by saying well yes you as a SW developer got some brain damage but you could still sweep the floor so you get partial payout, not full. PPS is occupation specific. If a surgeon injures his hands for instance in a crash and can no longer do surgery he would get full payout, not partial, even though he could go on to teach or something. At least that is how I understood it. To get PPS though you need a 4 year degree or equivalent.

Otherwise get a decent financial adviser who is independent. Most people calling themselves "financial advisers" in SA work for a single company which means technically they do not deserve the title. They are sales people for that one company. Find independent advisers who can quote multiple suppliers and can advise on the different payout structures and who pays out easier.

Medical I am less sure. On discovery for now as it is best for our specific genetic condition according to our specialist doctor teams.
 
Cius said:
If you qualify for PPS it will pretty much beet out any others for life insurance and disability products as its a collective and hence is non-profit. Any profit derived flows back to you as a member into your profit share account. If you end up with any of the others any profit they make goes to the company shareholders, not you.

PPS also tends to be a lot kinder in their definitions of disability/incapacity. Some insurers game the system for partial disability by saying well yes you as a SW developer got some brain damage but you could still sweep the floor so you get partial payout, not full. PPS is occupation specific. If a surgeon injures his hands for instance in a crash and can no longer do surgery he would get full payout, not partial, even though he could go on to teach or something. At least that is how I understood it. To get PPS though you need a 4 year degree or equivalent.

Otherwise get a decent financial adviser who is independent. Most people calling themselves "financial advisers" in SA work for a single company which means technically they do not deserve the title. They are sales people for that one company. Find independent advisers who can quote multiple suppliers and can advise on the different payout structures and who pays out easier.

Medical I am less sure. On discovery for now as it is best for our specific genetic condition according to our specialist doctor teams.
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was about to say PPS if you qualify
 
Jip, I've got my life insurance and short term with them.. if you can get it, I'd recommend as well!

Edit: the additional benefit of their profit share is amazeballs, my boss has significant policies with them and got like 40% of his yearly premium back in profit share! :D
 
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Thanks peeps, will send pps an email and see what kind of quotes I can get for their life and disability coverages.
I see a lot of bad reviews on hello peter regarding their profmed side of things though, mostly about not paying valid claim in a timely fashion, does anyone here uses Profmeds that can provide some insights?

Thanks!
 
kota said:
Thanks peeps, will send pps an email and see what kind of quotes I can get for their life and disability coverages.
I see a lot of bad reviews on hello peter regarding their profmed side of things though, mostly about not paying valid claim in a timely fashion, does anyone here uses Profmeds that can provide some insights?

Thanks!
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The PPS non core products are OK but nothing to right home about. That includes profmed, and their short term insurance business (car and home etc). Have been on both at one point or another and left both quickly. Same for their RA's. Massively underperformed my pension and had high fees. So I would limit PPS purchases to life and disability insurance type stuff and only consider the others if they quote or perform better than the competition. Most doctors I know rated profmed as average as a medical aid.
 
kota said:
Thanks peeps, will send pps an email and see what kind of quotes I can get for their life and disability coverages.
I see a lot of bad reviews on hello peter regarding their profmed side of things though, mostly about not paying valid claim in a timely fashion, does anyone here uses Profmeds that can provide some insights?

Thanks!
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tbh dont try lump everything together pick best insurer and best medaid that you can they dont have to be under one umbrella
 
I got a quote from PPS for (life cover, disability and income protection) and then anothe quote from Momentum which is +- R 1200 (inlcudling their R600 discount / health benefit), both quotes based on the same values.

I know it all depends on values but has anyone got quotes from a few different companies to see how they compare ?
 
L-Dog said:
I got a quote from PPS for (life cover, disability and income protection) and then anothe quote from Momentum which is +- R 1200 (inlcudling their R600 discount / health benefit), both quotes based on the same values.

I know it all depends on values but has anyone got quotes from a few different companies to see how they compare ?
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some companies back when I was looking were 4x PPS amount for half the benefit

you didnt state how much pps charged?
 
Snyper564 said:
some companies back when I was looking were 4x PPS amount for half the benefit

you didnt state how much pps charged?
Click to expand...

Ahh I see I made a msitake with the values, PPS had higher values than momentum. PPS was R 2500 and Momentum was R 2400 on teh same values now ( Momentum then offer the 35%) disscount so its is R 1560.

Life Cover - R 5mil
Critical Ilness - R 1 mil
Diasbility COver - R 2.5mil
Income protection - R 50k

Think values are on the high side so will probably bring them down a bit. I guess with momentum you get nothing and with PPC you get the "cashback" when you retire but one could take the gamble and put the extra R 950 into your RA
 
L-Dog said:
Ahh I see I made a msitake with the values, PPS had higher values than momentum. PPS was R 2500 and Momentum was R 2400 on teh same values now ( Momentum then offer the 35%) disscount so its is R 1560.

Life Cover - R 5mil
Critical Ilness - R 1 mil
Diasbility COver - R 2.5mil
Income protection - R 50k

Think values are on the high side so will probably bring them down a bit. I guess with momentum you get nothing and with PPC you get the "cashback" when you retire but one could take the gamble and put the extra R 950 into your RA
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yeah difficult to do apples with apples.

That income protection I would "self insure" and remove if possible
 
Snyper564 said:
yeah difficult to do apples with apples.

That income protection I would "self insure" and remove if possible
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Yeah that does appear to be the most expensive item, might just reduce it substansially and see how that effects the overall quote.
 
L-Dog said:
Yeah that does appear to be the most expensive item, might just reduce it substansially and see how that effects the overall quote.
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You can save than in 1 year just popping less than R4k away put into high interest account and forget about it and its "yours" forever just my 2c
 
CompanyCoverOnce Off Net IncomeCoverPremium
LibertyLife
2,200,000.00​
453.66​
SanlamFunc impairmt plus disability for regular occupation2 216 184
819.45​
Death2 216 184
LibertyLoss of income Income Range
50,000.00​
1166.71​
Losss of income Lump Sum
2,200,000.00​
360.86​
SanlamExtended Disability
44323​
1971.23​
Sickness
49867​
Some example figures, 'scuse the layout
 
In my personal experience, loss of income protection is just as important as life and disability cover, if not more. If you ever become unable to work again due to serious injury or illness, you will bless the day you took it out. These things can come totally out of the blue and at that stage it is too late to do anything to secure your financial future. Based on the above example, a disability lump sum of R2.2m is not that much as it will only generate an interest income of around R18k per month before tax. This is not very much to live on if you have no other sources of income. On the other hand, the R50k per month loss of income payout is tax free and should increase annually to compensate for inflation, depending on the terms of the policy. I am not sure how one could easily self insure for this as you would need to save up a capital amount of around R9m to R10m to produce an after tax monthly income of R50k. That is going to take a very long time by investing at the rate of R1 166 per month. The other thing to look out for is at what age the payments will cease as after that you will have to rely on your retirement funds and any other savings for future income. The usual age is 65 I think. Some companies allow an extension up to age 70 or 75 but at a higher premium.
 
pb41 said:
In my personal experience, loss of income protection is just as important as life and disability cover, if not more. If you ever become unable to work again due to serious injury or illness, you will bless the day you took it out. These things can come totally out of the blue and at that stage it is too late to do anything to secure your financial future. Based on the above example, a disability lump sum of R2.2m is not that much as it will only generate an interest income of around R18k per month before tax. This is not very much to live on if you have no other sources of income. On the other hand, the R50k per month loss of income payout is tax free and should increase annually to compensate for inflation, depending on the terms of the policy. I am not sure how one could easily self insure for this as you would need to save up a capital amount of around R9m to R10m to produce an after tax monthly income of R50k. That is going to take a very long time by investing at the rate of R1 166 per month. The other thing to look out for is at what age the payments will cease as after that you will have to rely on your retirement funds and any other savings for future income. The usual age is 65 I think. Some companies allow an extension up to age 70 or 75 but at a higher premium.
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wait a minute how long is that loss of income of R50k active for?

@L-Dog
 
L-Dog said:
Ahh I see I made a msitake with the values, PPS had higher values than momentum. PPS was R 2500 and Momentum was R 2400 on teh same values now ( Momentum then offer the 35%) disscount so its is R 1560.

Life Cover - R 5mil
Critical Ilness - R 1 mil
Diasbility COver - R 2.5mil
Income protection - R 50k

Think values are on the high side so will probably bring them down a bit. I guess with momentum you get nothing and with PPC you get the "cashback" when you retire but one could take the gamble and put the extra R 950 into your RA
Click to expand...
Just remember with PPS you get a lot of that premium back into your profit share account. I had similar cover and typically got back about 60 to 80% of my premiums each year into that profit share account which kind of acts like another RA. You get it when you are 55.
 
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