The reasons we get life insurance are numerous. But the main reason we get it, is to protect those that we leave behind. We do it to improve their lives, to leave it better financially than when we where around. To make sure they get the education we expected them too. We do it to make sure the remaining parent, doesn't struggle under the strain of not having the income that you contributed. We do it to eliminate the absolute burden of debt. We do it because we care, because we love. Because we want to leave a legacy. It's often the best investment people ever make. You'd have to pay your premiums for approximately 150 years, before you ever get close to paying off the capital amount. Life insurance, because two things are certain: Death and taxes. One thing that people must be aware of is that it's not enough to have life insurance on your pension fund and think that you're covered. The life insurance on your pension fund should be a last resort as it's very expensive in comparison. Rather contribute your entire pension fund premium to your investment portion. Why? Because you'll see a return on it and secondly, because if you quit, get retrenched, start your own business or retire, that life insurance disappears and you'll have to get new cover. Most people realise that they still need this cover. The problem is, you could be very much older when this happens, which means you may be medically uninsurable or your premiums will be so high you can't afford it becuase of the age factor. It also leaves gaps in your insurance cover between the pension fund benefits and whenever you remember to get your own cover in place after you've left your job. And who's to say that the new job will have life insurance cover on their pension fund? This is very dangerous for families. It's a gamble with Murphy's law. And you shouldn't do it. You can save a lot of money by simply getting your own cover in place. Now that's good advice.

Severe Illness Cover

Given the plethora of risk products available you may be wondering why there is a need for yet more cover. The answer is simple... more and more people are being affected by life changing events such as heart attacks, cancer and strokes. There is no underestimating the dramatic impact such an illness can have on you and your lifestyle.

Why GREENLIGHT Severe Illness cover?

What truly sets GREENLIGHT apart when it comes to illness cover is that they pay 100% of cover for all severities of the four major illnesses - heart attack, cancer, stroke and coronary artery bypass graft. These four illnesses account for 93% of all GREENLIGHT's illness claims during 2008.

Many popular illness products have varying cover according to the severity of the illness suffered. So you could find with one of these products that your heart attack has been classified “mild” and be paid 50% of your cover amount, for example. GREENLIGHT celebrates the standardised industry definitions for the four “core” diseases: heart attack, cancer, stroke and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). Objectively measured against industry-standard definitions, we pay 100% for all four severity levels from mild to severe, as you can see in the grid below.

GREENLIGHT payouts as a percentage of Cover Amount	Severity A Most severe level of illness	Severity B	Severity C	Severity D Least severe level of illness
Heart attack	100%	100%	100%	100%
Stroke	100%	100%	100%	100%
Cancer	100%	100%	100%	100%
CABG - Coronary Artery Bypass Graft	100%	100%	100%	100%

Illnesses and severity levels in the table are as per the Standardised Critical Illness Definitions Project (SCIDEP) of the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (ASISA). Old Mutual has implemented this in their benefits, and is the first insurer to disclose the grid on quotes.

Additionally, there are more than 50 other illnesses covered. HIV-AIDs is one of them.

GREENLIGHT firmly believes that even at “mild” severity levels, an illness can have a huge impact on your lifestyle, so their illness cover does not differentiate between “mild” and more severe cancers, for example. Statistics of the insured populations tell us that 50% of heart attacks are mild or minor, 40% of strokes result in mild damage and 60% of cancers are stage 1. We recognise that customers need 100% of their cover to pay out if they suffer from one of the severe illnesses, no matter how mildly. Which makes sense, because some people get R100,000 cover and others get R500,000 cover. Based on that, you can't have differentiations based on severity payouts. So I'm personally, very glad that Old Mutual has done this.

Features and Benefits

You know you'll be paid, what you expect - no excuses. You'll receive 100% of your cover amount, for all of the severe illnesses covered.
Simple, understandable language with a minimum of medical jargon.
You can access cover for a very comprehensive range of severe illnesses, including blindness and trauma. The LifeQuality event will cover you if you need help with or can't do day-to-day chores such as washing and dressing yourself, no matter the medical reason.
Fair treatment - If one of the four major illnesses must be excluded from your cover after assessing you medically, we will at least reduce your premium to fairly reflect your reduced cover.
Children can be covered too.

The Need:

To provide an income and financial security when you can no longer provide these. A surrogate money earner for your family as it were.

To repay debt, any outstanding bond, estate duty and other costs when you're no longer there.

To allow your business partners to continue running the business without added capital strain, on the your death. It allows partners to buy out your portion of the business without business interruption or for you to buy out their portion as it were.

The Solution:

A stand-alone lump sum benefit that pays out 100% on your death - No Excuses!

The Need:

To cover clients who are medically uninsurable.

Protection against death resulting from accidents, crime and violence.

Protection for clients who are at a high risk of accidents - e.g.) Where a lot of travelling is required.

Add-on life cover for extra protection.

No medical testing - no HIV testing required.

Exclusions clearly defined.

No time limitation between the accident and death.

Definition of "accident" is clear and simple to understand.

The Solution:

A stand-alone lump sum benefit that pays out if clients die as a result of an accident.

An "accident" is an external, unexpected event that is not traceable, even indirectly, to the Life Covered'state of mental or physical health before the event.

The Need:

Readily available cash on the event of your death to provide cover to your family for:

A dignified funeral.
In the event of your estate being inaccessible due to it being frozen.
Repayment of credit card and short term debts.
Finance for your family who may have to travel from abroad.
The need to cover any other incidental immediate expenses surrounding your death to help family cope.
The need for legal support and psychological counseling.

The Solution:

Pays out up to R100,000 cash lumpsum within 48 hours.