Only 259 of the new complaints registered by the Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance (Osti) last year were related to Covid-19. But settlements in Covid-related business interruption (BI) complaints accounted for 49.5% of the R197 million of what the Osti called the “monetary benefit and value” for consumers who approached the office for assistance. The percentage […]
The Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance (Osti) has once again flagged the increase in the number of complaints from consumers whose claims are rejected because insurers allege the driver failed to exercise reasonable precaution or due care. The number of these complaints increased by 48% in 2019 and 2020, and last year the Osti considered 26% […]
The 10 days of unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng in July last year wiped out the South African Special Risk Insurance Association’s cumulative retained earnings of more than R8 billion, incoming Sasria chief executive Mpumi Tyikwe said. In a briefing to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Appropriations this month, Sasria provided a breakdown of […]
First National Bank (FNB) was the only bank among the country’s “big five” banks that recorded a decrease in the number of cases opened against it by the Ombudsman for Banking Services (OBS) in 2021. Both Standard Bank and Capitec saw the number of formal cases opened against them increase by more than 30% last […]
Discovery chief executive Adrian Gore has told Business Day that the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) system is “a moral imperative” for the country that he supports fully, although he said it would require careful implementation to ensure its long-term fiscal sustainability. “A well-functioning NHI is necessary and morally correct, as we need to address […]
The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF), a representative association for medical schemes, has applied for an exemption from provisions of the Competition Act so that it can publish a scale of benefits after negotiating with healthcare providers about tariffs. The application was published in the Government Gazette on 6 May. It has asked for the […]
10X Investments has agreed to a 100% cash purchase of CoreShares, creating a full-service South African indexing investment specialist with more than R31 billion in assets under management. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals, but no delays are expected, CoreShares said in a SENS announcement last week. The purchase price was not disclosed. 10X […]
Life insurers’ fraud investigations have turned up more evidence of deathly get-rich schemes in which syndicates take out funeral insurance on victims they subsequently kill in order to submit a claim. Syndicates, particularly in the Eastern Cape, look for every opportunity to exploit, and there has been upward trend with unnatural deaths in the past […]
Life insurers detected 4 287 fraudulent and dishonest claims worth R787.6 million across all lines of risk business in 2021. This is a 34.5% increase in the number of such claims from 2020, when 3 186 cases of fraudulent and dishonest claims to a value of R587.3m (34.1% increase) were uncovered. The fraudulent and dishonest […]
One of Dis-Chem’s third-party service providers suffered a data breach on April 28, affecting more than 3.68 million of its customers, according to a notice posted on Dis-Chem’s website on Wednesday. It said “there is currently no indication that any personal information has been published or misused as a result of the incident. However, we […]
