Discovery Life has launched a Global Education Protector policy which could help fund your children’s education costs. Education is expensive. Currently, average tuition fees across public primary schools sits at around R20,000 per annum while the...
A sobering thought before we all climb behind the wheel of our cars this holiday: South Africa’s roads are among the most dangerous in the world! According to the World Health Organisation, the number of road deaths in South Africa per 100 000...
New financial services companies are starting to challenge the status quo through technology that enables them to engage with customers directly and use data collected through the use of smartphones, rewards programmes and social media to improve...
Anything you post on social media can be used by insurers, within reason. Can an insurer use information collected from your social media posts to assess your risk profile and verify claims? This was the question posed by Maria Philippides,...
Annual medical aid premium increases for 2018 are once again measuring in excess of inflation, and this often comes with a decrease in benefit levels. This means consumers will have to make increasingly tough choices if they don't want to be caught...
Car insurance for a person under the age of 25 can be extremely high as they have a much higher risk rating than someone who has been driving for many years. They are also at that age where they are more likely to undertake risky driving behaviour....
Please note that this website cannot answer your questions about your UIF application. You must apply and submit your continuation forms via the UIF website. If you are struggling with the online application process, you can email Ms Ditoro...
Discovery and Momentum medical schemes top the tables in the 2017 GTC Medical Aid Survey across most plans. The extensive survey, conducted by financial advisory firm GTC, takes various criteria into account when ranking the scheme options. Jill...
This year our family is working our rewards programmes to cover the costs of medication. After realising we would pay R1 500 less per month on our premiums if we selected a medical scheme option that did not cover my son’s R900 per month chronic...
Modern medical advances have made it possible for more and more people to beat cancer. When it comes to breast cancer, early detection and diagnosis mean that survival rates have gone up dramatically. In fact, almost two out of every three women...
This week I was chatting to my independent financial adviser who told me that the majority of the claims he handles these days relate to critical illness. He says the claims for serious illnesses like cancer and heart attacks have escalated among his clients in their...
If you are considering moving medical schemes or looking to take out a medical scheme plan for the first time, you need to consider the viability of the scheme as a whole and then select the plan that best suits your needs. The health of the scheme Jill Larkan, head...
Medical practitioners need to be incentivised to keep us well, rather than getting paid just when we are sick. Three weeks ago my son cut his finger badly and it needed to be professionally bandaged and assessed for stitches. I popped down to my doctor’s rooms and...
As long as medical claims outstrip premiums collected, our premiums will keep rising. This year most medical scheme members will see premium increases well above inflation with the industry average hovering around 11%. Depending on your scheme option, some members...
Last week I attended the Momentum Risk Summit and one of the things that struck me was the extent to which medical technology will be able to predict our future health outcomes. We know that if we have an existing illness such as diabetes, we will pay more if we apply...
In order to provide lower-cost medical cover, most medical schemes offer plan options where co-payments apply for certain procedures. These procedures tend to be elective surgeries such as a colonoscopy or joint replacement and are clearly defined in the medical...
Liberty recently released its 2015 claim statistics which make for interesting analysis. As the largest individual risk player in South Africa, recording the largest volumes of new risk business for the last 12 years and having paid out over R3.5bn in claims last...
Last month I cancelled my online short-term insurance policy when an insurance broker was able to beat the quote by R100. As I was selling my old car and buying a new one, I took the time to do some quote comparisons of direct insurers via the comparative website...
You’re at your local shopping centre, the kids are screaming and you’re rushing to get your shopping done as quickly as possible so you hurriedly press the remote button to lock your car and run into the centre. But have you double-checked that your car is properly...
Retrenchments are likely to become even more commonplace in the current economic environment as companies downsize and try to contain costs where possible. If you don’t have retrenchment insurance and need funds to tide you over until you are able to find another job,...