Credit life insurance is the insurance that covers the outstanding debt on your accounts in the event of your death, disability or retrenchment.
Credit life insurance or “customer protection insurance” is defined in the National Credit Act as the cover payable in the event of a consumer’s death, disability, terminal illness, unemployment, or other insurable risk that is likely to prevent the consumer from earning an income or meeting the obligations under a credit agreement.
Yes, absolutely. For more information, read our blog; "Is switching credit life cover legal?"
You will pay an Insurance Premium so that you can enjoy the benefits of the cover.
Your previous credit life insurance would most likely have been included in your instalment payment to your credit provider, but by providing independent insurance through Switch2 for all your credit products, the payment/s you make to your credit provider/s will be reduced in lieu of the cancelled credit life insurance portion on your loan/s and there will be a separate debit order paid to Switch2 to replace this.
The instalment paid to your credit provider should reduce as your credit life insurance premium will no longer be included in the instalment.
Yes.
Telephonic process:
Online process:
Your current lenders confirm with us whether you are paying for credit life insurance. In most instances, credit providers insist that you have credit life insurance in place for the duration of the credit agreement. For more information, read our blog; "Which loans usually include credit life insurance"
We collect your premium every month for the duration of the credit agreement and in return offer you suitable cover and benefits.
Waiting periods are carried over from your existing policy.
You could pay a more affordable premium, thereby saving money
You will enjoy one point of contact in dealing with a claim if an insured event occurs. If approved, we’ll pay the credit providers covered under our policy. This means you won’t have to reach out to all of your credit providers in the event of retrenchment, for example.
You’ll have peace of mind knowing we are a reputable company that will pay out in the case of an insured event occurring (subject to the client fulfilling the terms of the policy).
We offer cover for hospitalisation and maternity which is often not included in credit life insurance policies within the marketplace.
All waiting periods are carried over from your current policy, which means that if you had a waiting period of 12 months and at the time of switching to us you had two months left, then that would be the waiting period with us (two months).
Switch2 was established in 2016 and comprises a staff complement with over 75 years of financial services experience. Switch2 Credit Life is a Division of Clientèle Life Assurance Company Limited, an Authorised Financial Services Provider and registered insurer, FSP15268.
There really isn’t one.
No, it definitely won’t. Our call to the credit bureau will leave a footprint, which will confirm that this was merely to check your current records, and that no new loan application is being made.
Your premium is calculated based on the outstanding balance on your accounts, which is reviewed quarterly and adjusted accordingly.
Yes, they will, the premiums decrease as the loan amount decreases. We monitor the status of the loans on a quarterly basis, and these checks will confirm if the loan is settled, at which point we will cancel the debit order.
You will receive a monthly newsletter, which will indicate the amount of money you have saved to date by switching.
Certainly. Any and all information pertaining to your premiums is available on request from the Switch2 team.
Credit life insurance by its nature is a risk product. This means that the client pays a premium every month to insure a risk; for example death, disability or retrenchment. The cover ensures that, should one of these risks become a reality, the insurer will pay the benefit amount to the credit provider under the policy. If no insured event occurs, nothing is paid out. The credit life premiums already paid are not refundable.
A credit provider may require a consumer to maintain credit life insurance during the time of the agreement so that the loan will be paid if the creditor passes away, becomes disabled, is retrenched, or becomes unable to pay the debt. It is designed to protect and provide a measure of security for both the insured and the credit provider.
No. The NCA confirms that, while the credit provider may offer you this insurance, you have the right to obtain cover anywhere. If you’ve already taken cover with the credit provider and want to switch, the only requirements are that the new cover must offer the same or better benefits as the existing cover, and there can be no gap in cover (there can be no period of time where no credit life insurance is in place).
You qualify for a policy if you:
The customer protection insurance policy protects you in the case of an “insured event” taking place during your period of insurance. This includes, as a minimum, the following benefits:
Once a claim has been processed and approved, the benefit will be paid to the credit provider.