Is Professional Provident Society (PPS) worthwhile?

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pozmans

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Is anyone a member of PPS? I've heard a lot about it but was wondering what they do exactly?

I recently finished my studies and am now in my first job - commercial property development. I went through their website and saw a plethora of packages, but am unsure of what packages are available to me at this stage in my life?
 
If you qualify then they are probably the best in terms of life insurance, disability cover, income protection and the like. Possibly not the best in terms of investments like RAs etc.

In a nutshell the difference between them and the other life insurers is that with PPS you are a 'shareholder' and you benefit from profits as opposed to being a customer who gets milked as much as possible.
 
I've been reading up on them and they do seem to have the best insurance premiums. I think the main attraction to them is the whole getting a big payout when you reach 55. How is it calculated?

The main thing that everyone seems to complain about is when they want to leave and their shares diminish to the point were it doesn't make sense to move. Could you explain this whole thing exactly?

Also, any recommendations on how to get in touch with reputable brokers who aren't actually just looking for a signature? I current have one but want to compare his rates with others.
 
You will have to speak to a PPS licensed broker for all the latest facts and figures. What do you want to compare? If your broker is PPS accredited then will have the same commisions as any other. If he isnt he will probably try sell you another companies products claiming they are better (beware....)

I am not a broker anymore (used to be PPS accredited) so all I can tell you is in my opinion they were hands down the better option for the vast majority of people who qualified.
 
Definitely worthwhile; IMHO, nobody else offers the same benefits for the price, and also their benefits stack on whatever else you have (e.g. through employee group benefits), instead of leading to all kinds of complicated limitations and exclusions. If you qualify, go for it. I was so happy with PPS, I recently signed up to their medical aid, Profmed, as well, and I have to say they are excellent (YMMV). Direct assistance with everything and they pay out within the same week. Completely different experience to what I had previously.

First apply for PPS membership (no obligation, as far as I can remember) and once you have gone through all that red tape, you can buy units of benefit (UOB) and then use the UOB to buy actual benefits, such as sickness cover, death benefit, permanent incapacity...

Once you have applied, a consultant will probably contact you with advice. They earn commission from PPS, so it's free advice, albeit with potential bias.

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way affiliated with PPS and this is my personal opinion.
 
They a bit pricey vs discovery I found and they tend to, much like discovery, want you to move all you packages to them to gain from extra discounts etc which is when it works out great. It's a tough ask if you tied into discovery hence works out more costly..
 
Restricted policies tend to be worthwhile in my experience - on the medical side.

That being said - if you're just entering the job market you need to focus on good medical. Unless you've got people depending on you (wife, kids etc) I rate life insurance is a waste of time imo. A lot of professional companies arrange life cover as an after thought anyway...mine had it included in the default package at *way* better rates than I could get on the open market. Didn't even know about it until I got the payslip.
 
Havoc. What you speak of is group life schemes and yes they are excellent value. However PPS is really aimed at professionals in private practice. Of course you could be a member if you qualify academically but are employed.
 
Well I just got told that an offer of "your premiums will be refunded to you" (verbatim from the underwriters letter) translates to me owing PPS money as they have since looked at what I've paid (totaling about R40,000) and what their costs and broker fees are and conclude that despite zero claims, I have underpaid (but I'm up-to-date on my policy payments.. so go figure).
The offer and the action are incompatible, and the calculation which manages to neutralise any refund despite zero claim seems highly suspicious and for that reason I would recommend you steer clear of PPS.
 
I recently signed up for some of PPS' products, specifically the Sickness & Permanent Incapacity, Critical Illness and Professional Disability Provider benefits. However, I also get most of these with Sanlam through my employer, which is making me doubt my decision to sign up for essentially double cover. According to PPS they don't aggregate, but Sanlam would so if I ever had to claim, I won't get the full percentage from each provider.

What are the recommendations/thoughts on taking out additional cover of this type if it is already provided to you via your employer, if any?
 
If you can get PPS I'd say go for it, just avoid exclusions.. rather take a loading on something!
 
Goliath said:
If you can get PPS I'd say go for it, just avoid exclusions.. rather take a loading on something!
Click to expand...
They already added an exclusion on my policy, because I told them about minor lower back pain that I had probably twice in my entire life :/

What is a loading?
 
jUgg3rnAutZA said:
I recently signed up for some of PPS' products, specifically the Sickness & Permanent Incapacity, Critical Illness and Professional Disability Provider benefits. However, I also get most of these with Sanlam through my employer, which is making me doubt my decision to sign up for essentially double cover. According to PPS they don't aggregate, but Sanlam would so if I ever had to claim, I won't get the full percentage from each provider.

What are the recommendations/thoughts on taking out additional cover of this type if it is already provided to you via your employer, if any?
Click to expand...
I do not see it as neccessary to take additional cover, because sickness/incapacity/criticall illness cover is not an investment.
 
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