Business Brief

Risk insurance products offer cover for different needs. Clients, therefore, need to understand the specific need a product serves. The commonly known benefits are life cover for death events, disability cover for disability events, sickness and incapacity benefits to cover the inability to perform one’s occupation and critical illness cover should the insured suffer from a dread disease(s) and/or illness.

All mentioned benefits play an important role in a person’s portfolio and are needed for one to be covered comprehensively for all eventualities. During the working life of a professional, sickness and incapacity benefits play a pivotal role in ensuring they are covered when falling ill or getting injured, leaving them unable to attend to their daily duties. Professionals, more specifically graduate professionals, can generate their income by constantly contacting customers, using their knowledge and skill to solve everyday issues, or combining both. Therefore, anything like a minor sickness such as the common flu or something major like a torn ligament or life-threatening illness may affect their ability to generate income. So, a sickness and incapacity benefit will allow them to continue receiving an income when suffering from any condition that prevents them from performing their usual professional duties.

The Sickness and Permanent Incapacity (SPPI) benefit is the flagship benefit offered by PPS. This benefit is designed to support the professional throughout a period of sickness or impairment by paying out should they not be able to perform their usual professional duties. One part of this benefit covers the member during the sickness period (728 days per unrelated condition) and the other through the incapacity period (period after sickness up to chosen retirement).

Paying more attention to the sickness part, we can focus on what makes this benefit valuable. Some notable features are the choices in waiting periods, conditions/illnesses covered, payments of the benefit and other additional features. A member has a choice between the seven- or 30-day waiting period. What makes the seven-day waiting period different from other offerings in the market, is that it pays retrospectively from day one, does not exclude any conditions or illnesses or require a period of hospitalisation for it to pay retrospectively. This benefit also covers any condition deemed valid for a claim for 728 days. A member can also claim for multiple other unrelated conditions interchangeably for 728 days. Other differentiating features are that there is no requirement to have experienced a loss of income, pays what a member is covered for and will not factor in whether a claimant is receiving any other similar payment for this condition. Female members are automatically covered for known pregnancy-related complications, including elective or selective caesarian sections.* A member can also add rider benefits that offer cover for hospitalisation, the hospitalisation of a member’s child(ren)/spouse and/or a child’s terminal illness diagnosis or death. In addition, this benefit offers a single claim process for self-employed professionals who have chosen to also cover their business expenses.

Having highlighted some of the features that make the SPPI benefit different from other products in the market shows that it is best suited for graduate professionals looking to cover their income-generating ability.

By Mpho Thathi, Technical Marketing Specialist

* Subject to underwriting consideration.

PPS is a licensed insurer conducting life insurance business, a licensed controlling company and an authorised FSP.