Faq
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the Most Pertinent Questions
Membership
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Any Person can voluntarily become a Member of a Funeral Scheme and be a Policyholder. Membership is applied for by completing an appropriate Application Form with full details of all people to be insured, including correct ID/Passport number and or Date of Births (DOB), contacts and nominated Beneficiary.
The Underwriter’s Terms &Conditions (Ts&Cs) with regards to Policy premium's payment and the age limit requirements when joining the Scheme, will always be applicable to the extent of claims payment. Policy Documents will always give more details for clarity purposes. Important to note is that there's no joining fee applicable to our policies and/or schemes.
Cover Start Date: Refers to the date determined by the Underwriter on which the legal obligation is/was created in respect of the benefit to be paid.
Waiting Period Expiry: The date on which the policyholder is entitled to claim for the benefit in respect of a death insured. All death (normal, accidental and suicidal) benefits are paid subject to Underwriter’s applicable Ts&Cs. The “Waiting Period Expiry” is calculated by the Underwriter, informed by the date on which it ought to have received the first premium, and not necessarily the number of premiums paid.
ALL Our funeral plans provide for a cash benefit ONLY to be paid in settlement of a valid death claim of members covered under the Policy. You have to identify a Funeral Home (Parlour) of your choice which will offer you burial/funeral services at best rates and better services.
The payment of the benefits in respect of claim is subject to the respective premiums being paid up to date (before date of death) as well as the fulfilment of Underwriter’s waiting period.
Personal Information
We use your personal information only for the purposes for which it was collected and, among others, this information is processed for the following purposes:
Conclude and administer the application for Insurance and other benefits
keeping a full and accurate record of the policyholder and all the insured lives
Payment of claims
Communication with the policyholder and beneficiaries
Communication with Underwriters and relevant third parties
Compliance with all relevant laws.
The validity of an assurance policy is subject to the fulfilment of party due diligence obligations under the provisions of the Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment Act conducted on the identity of client(s) or persons acting on behalf of clients as well as beneficiaries, premiums payers and beneficial owners of juristic persons where applicable.
Information is further used to assess the unique financial situation and particular needs of the Client in order to then be advised accordingly in relation to the products. In some instances, Client may consider and rely on own knowledge and experience about the Product, thereby taking up the funeral policy on a non-advice basis.
Schemes Underwriting
There have a been changes to legislation that have necessitated changes to the categorization of funeral policies and how they are contracted.
Schedule2 to the Insurance Act provides for life insurance policies to be classified either as “group” or “individual” policies defined as follows (our underlining):
“group” in respect of the classes of insurance business, relates to an insurance policy
entered into with-
(a) an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their
common or shared economic and social needs and aspirations (other than
obtaining insurance), which association is democratically-controlled;
(b) an employer; or
(c) a fund, where the association, employer or fund holds the insurance policy
exclusively for the benefit of a beneficiary;
Although these schemes have been structured to allow for individuals to be underwritten on a grouped basis in order for more preferential rates to be applied to the policyholders, it must be clear that the underlying policies remain individual funeral policies between Insurer and the individual policyholder, as a result any Master Policy Document that would normally be issued in relation to these schemes is no longer applicable.
To register a NEW Group Scheme: When a new group scheme is underwritten, specific documents will be required in relation to official confirmation of the existence of the group. These will include legal entity's registration with SA authorised institutions and identification of real life people behind the management thereof, and FICA verifications process will also be followed. Membership data will be required to obtain a quotation for the proposed scheme and a full waiting period will be serves per Insurer's Ts&Cs.
Transferring an existing/underwritten scheme: Schemes that require transfers have the benefit of waiting period being waved at inception. However, history information from the previous underwriter will be required as per the new Insurer's Ts&Cs. Information such as claims and premiums record history will be included as part of requirements.
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1. Employer's Membership data with Full names, Surname, ID number, contact number and
physical addresses of the Main/Principal Members that are insured
2. Payroll list that illustrates the date of engagements/employment of members and the
employee numbers
3. SMME – letters of appointment with the company letterhead (where applicable)
4. Person responsible for payments (employer/employee) of premiums. Employer is
responsible to make payment for all employees, but premium amount may be shared
between the Employer and Employees on agreement.
5. Employer CIPC Reg. Documents
6. Nominated beneficiary or the policy holder. In this case the Employer is the Policyholder
and will be claiming on behalf of employees as beneficiaries. However, employee should
nominate own beneficiary that employer will be liaising with.