Life Insurance

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Maverick154

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Hi Everyone.

I have a quick question regarding life insurance. Which company in your opinion is the best one to go with? Currently my wife is insured with Sanlam and I have received a quote from Discovery. Her work fully pays her and my medical aid and we are on Gold status (Diamond next year), so the integrated options and cash back etc is nice.

But I am not sure if they will be a bad move to go with? They offer R1 million Life Insurance, R1 million Disability and R450,000 Severe Illness cover for R250 per month. Sanlam is offering her R1.1 million Life cover for R230.

Given that we have bought into the Discovery scheme (due to our medical aid being fully subsidised by her work it made sense to do this due to the benefits we get), is the policy being offered a good one? Are there better policies out there?

Thanks in advance!
 
The only advice I have is make sure you have dreaded disease cover, we learnt the really hard way. Make sure you know exactly what you are covered for before you sign.
 
The_MAC said:
The only advice I have is make sure you have dreaded disease cover, we learnt the really hard way. Make sure you know exactly what you are covered for before you sign.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Thankfully never had to use it but I do think it's important.
 
Impossible to advise without actual sight of the schedules/quotes.

Just beware that at those premium rates, it is probably an increasing cover, increasing premium policy where premium rate increases (CPI + Age Factor) are faster than the cover increases (Only CPI).

It's very possible that at 50, you may be paying an extraordinary amount of money for your life cover. Typically the schedules/quotes will have indicative rates and cover, which you could look at to assist in your decision.

You should also get more quotes.
 
The_MAC said:
The only advice I have is make sure you have dreaded disease cover, we learnt the really hard way. Make sure you know exactly what you are covered for before you sign.
Click to expand...

How does this differ from Severe Illness?
 
the eskimo said:
Impossible to advise without actual sight of the schedules/quotes.

Just beware that at those premium rates, it is probably an increasing cover, increasing premium policy where premium rate increases (CPI + Age Factor) are faster than the cover increases (Only CPI).

It's very possible that at 50, you may be paying an extraordinary amount of money for your life cover. Typically the schedules/quotes will have indicative rates and cover, which you could look at to assist in your decision.

You should also get more quotes.
Click to expand...

What part of the quote should I provide? Obviously cannot provide the entire quote due to sensitive info being on there.
 
Get yourself an insurance broker ...
 
Maverick154 said:
How does this differ from Severe Illness?
Click to expand...

Not sure, maybe its the same thing, but I think that sometimes they can catch you out with some clever wording tactics. I wouldn't be surprised if for example severe only includes heart-attacks and strokes, and dreaded covers cancer and hereditary diseases.

I would just make sure that the cover is as comprehensive as possible, saving say R50-R100 a month but not being covered for a disease which can cost you hundreds of thousands for treatment might not be worth it.
 
I don't think that you providing any part of the quote would really help.

A good independent financial advisor is worth whatever fee or commission they charge. They will be able to a complete needs analysis and advise on the differences between the policies and obtain further quotes if required.

They will be able to answer questions like (after your meeting with them):
- Do you require an increasing sum-insured? If its a policy ceded to a bank as cover for a home loan and you have existing (group life or other) cover which increases, you can get a fixed sum insured with a fixed premium.
- How much cover do you really need? Marital Status, dependents, debt, other obligations all taken into account.
- Do you need any additional covers such as dread disease, disability? You probably do, but a single person with no debt would need a lower income replacement % than a sole income earner with 4 dependents.
- Which company's policies are better for your needs? Perhaps all your eggs in a Discovery basket is not the best option.
etc...

This cannot be done on a forum.
 
the eskimo said:
I don't think that you providing any part of the quote would really help.

A good independent financial advisor is worth whatever fee or commission they charge. They will be able to a complete needs analysis and advise on the differences between the policies and obtain further quotes if required.

They will be able to answer questions like (after your meeting with them):
- Do you require an increasing sum-insured? If its a policy ceded to a bank as cover for a home loan and you have existing (group life or other) cover which increases, you can get a fixed sum insured with a fixed premium.
- How much cover do you really need? Marital Status, dependents, debt, other obligations all taken into account.
- Do you need any additional covers such as dread disease, disability? You probably do, but a single person with no debt would need a lower income replacement % than a sole income earner with 4 dependents.
- Which company's policies are better for your needs? Perhaps all your eggs in a Discovery basket is not the best option.
etc...

This cannot be done on a forum.
Click to expand...

I agree, get an independent broker who can give you various quotes to meet your needs.
 
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