Covid waves see Liberty’s claim pay-outs jump 60%
Claims paid out by Liberty under its flagship Lifestyle Protector policy shot up by 59.6% last year, to R10.12 billion, largely because of the cumulative effects of the Beta and Delta waves of […]
MediCheck claims win as Discovery Health writes off up to R170m in ATB recoveries
Discovery Health has abandoned recovery action against more than 16 500 members, agreeing to absorb up to R170 million in overpaid ATB claims after sustained pressure from MediCheck,
Old Mutual receives more than 2 200 flood claims
Old Mutual Insure (OMI) has received more than 2 200 claims related to the floods in KwaZulu-Natal in April. In a trading update published on 26 May, Old Mutual said reinsurance agreements would reduce […]
Multi-asset unit trusts back in favour with SA investors
South African multi-asset portfolios found favour with investors in the 12 months to the end of the first quarter of this year, according to the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (Asisa). […]
Failure to avoid FATF’s ‘grey list’ poses a risk to the stability of SA’s financial system
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has identified the potential of an unfavourable outcome of the Financial Action Task Force’s Mutual Evaluation of South Africa as a threat to the stability of the […]
Fund cannot withhold a benefit if an employer has only instituted criminal charges
The Financial Services Tribunal (FST) has reiterated that a retirement fund cannot withhold a benefit if only a criminal case has been instituted against a member. In fact, even if the member has […]
Covid in South Africa: what to expect in the short and long term
In light of the approaching winter months, combined with the recent lifting of the national disaster act, South Africans have anxiously been watching an increase in Covid infections. The Conversation Africa spoke to […]
Momentum and Sanlam the only major life insurers to grow new business above pre-Covid levels, says PwC
Momentum Metropolitan Holdings (MMH) and Sanlam are the only major life insurers in South Africa to have grown the value of their new business relative to pre-Covid levels, according to PwC. PwC based […]
FAIS Ombud rep levy pushes up an FSP’s total levy bill
As we reported last week, National Treasury has revised some of the levies that FSPs will have to pay to the FSCA in terms of the Financial Sector and Deposit Insurance Levies Bill. […]
Complaints data for short-term insurers
This link will open the complaints data from the Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance’s 2021 annual report. The insurers are sorted by number of complaints per thousand claims (column 5). As the Osti points […]
CMS to take action against actuary over comments about low-cost benefit options
The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) says it will be taking action against Insight Actuaries & Consultants joint-chief executive Christoff Raath following his comments about low-cost benefit options (LCBOs) on 19 May. The […]
BHF criticises CMS for not updating PMBs and lack of movement on low-cost benefits
The failure by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) to review the prescribed minimum benefits (PMBs) regularly is making private healthcare unaffordable for millions of people, according to the Board of Healthcare Funders […]
Tribunal doesn’t accept debarred rep’s attempt to walk back admission
The Financial Services Tribunal (FST) as upheld the FSCA’s decision to debar a life insurance representative who admitted that she submitted unauthorised policy applications but subsequently sought to qualify her admission. What is […]
Regulating insurance commission has failed dismally since 1977
The fallacy that insurance commission is the root of all evil has led to numerous failed attempts to regulate it. Dr Brian Benfield, a retired professor from Wits’ Department of Economics, holds nothing […]
10 take-aways from the long-term insurance ombudsman’s annual report
The Ombudsman for Long-term Insurance (Olti) released its annual report for 2021 last week. Here are 10 key take-aways from the report: 1. R200m recovered for complainants The Olti recovered R200 689 324 […]
Life insurers that attracted the most and least complaints in 2021
This link will open a table of the 2021 complaints data of the 51 life insurers that subscribe to the Ombudsman for Long-term Insurance. The table lists the insurers by each insurer’s complaints […]
Ambiguous wording results in dispute over funeral claims
Poorly worded policies don’t only result in disputes over multi-million-rand commercial claims. The Ombudsman for Long-term Insurance (Olti) last year dealt with a number of complaints about rejected or limited funeral benefit claims […]
A financial planner’s take on landmark Divorce Act judgment
Last week, we reported on the landmark judgment by the Pretoria High Court that declared parts of the Divorce Act unconstitutional and invalid. The ruling means that individuals married out of community of […]
