Court confirms order for reinstatement of insurance salesman fired for gross insubordination
He was alleged to have disrespected the CEO during a staff meeting called to address the team’s underperformance.
Insurance
FSCA publishes conduct standard on third-party cell captive insurance business
The FSCA has published a conduct standard setting out the requirements relating to third-party cell captive insurance business. Conduct Standard 2 of 2022 (INS) came into operation on 1 October and applies immediately […]
Treasury, Sasria working on reintroducing R1bn in additional cover
National Treasury and the South African Special Risk Insurance Association (Sasria) are working on ways for the state-owned insurer to reintroduce the R1 billion in additional cover for large corporates, Finance Minister Enoch […]
Was the tribunal’s decision on causal event penalties warranted?
In an article about a case in which the High Court in Johannesburg ordered the South African Special Risk Association to pay Blackspear, the judge noted that, despite the complexity of the relevant […]
Businesses are particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change
A few years ago, climate change was a far-off reality, but a marked increase in natural disasters and weather-related catastrophes points to the reality that it may be closer to home than we […]
High Court judgment ‘is a caution to insureds who seek to obstruct an insurer’s access to information’
In what is a rare win for an insurer in recent times, the Gauteng High Court’s judgment in Musa v King Price Insurance Co on 9 May highlights the importance of insureds abiding […]
A proactive risk advisory business model is key to survival
If you think that a “business as usual” approach is all that is required in the future, you are in for a rude awakening. In a recent media release, Andrew Coutts, the head […]
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 […]
How intermediaries can overcome client objections
When it comes to finance, we assume people are rational, so we give people more information and longer documents and explain the actuarial principles in the hope that they will result in their […]
How intermediaries can have better conversations with their clients
Clients often find insurance conversations challenging. They want to get through them quickly and enter them with a preconceived idea of what they want to talk about. But intermediaries can have more meaningful […]
Former Land Bank Insurance head takes over at Sasria
The South African Special Risk Insurance Association (Sasria) has appointed Mpumelelo “Mpumi” Tyikwe as its new chief executive, effective 7 April. Outgoing incumbent Cedric Masondo, whose term ends in May, is set to […]
FSCA is concerned about life insurance premium increases
The FSCA says it will continue to ensure that insurers adopt “a fair and balanced approach” towards premium increases, while taking into account the valuable role the insurance industry has played in difficult […]
Why insurer changed its mind after declining a claim
The question of full disclosure at the time of application, as well as during the term of a policy, came to the fore in a recent article published in Rapport. After first repudiating […]
Santam phasing out BI cover for power cuts
Santam, South Africa’s leading non-life insurer, issued an “operational circular” on 15 March that could have a significant impact on commercial clients’ existing cover for business interruption resulting from extended cover for losses […]
Insurers making increasing use of ‘reckless driving’ clause to reject claims
Insurers are disputing or rejecting an increasing number of motor vehicle accident claims on the grounds that the insured was speeding, and consumers should be made aware of the implications of the reasonable […]
Will loyalty programme devices be used to refute claims?
My colleague Mark Bechard’s article on the increase in rejected claims because of reckless driving raises a few interesting questions about the possible use of technology when investigating such claims. The Ombudsman for Short-term […]
Adviser obligations regarding disclosure of material terms and conditions of a policy
The need to explain material terms was never more clearly illustrated than during the pandemic outbreak in February 2020 and the subsequent lawsuits that really harmed the industry’s reputation. Of course, if we […]
