How much is life insurance really costing you in South Africa?
In hard economic times, most people in South Africa are looking to reign in their spending and cut back on unnecessary costs as far as possible.
An overlooked area of reigning in spending is to revisit the hidden costs associated with your personal loan.
Most people assume that these monthly repayments are fixed and that there’s little that can be done to trim costs, but an area where significant savings can be realized is on the cost of the credit life insurance which most banks make mandatory when taking out a personal loan, explains Tlalane Ntuli, co-founder and chief operating officer of digital insurer Yalu.
If you currently have a personal loan, you will have credit life insurance which banks require as security for your debt should you become unable to service your loan repayments due primarily to death, disability or retrenchment.
Most people do not even know they have this cover or how much its actually costing them – people simply accept the credit life insurance that’s offered at the point of signing their loan agreement to avoid the "hassle factor", never giving it a second thought again.
In fact, most consumers don’t know that they are not obligated to take this cover with the bank and that there are more affordable options with better benefits available to them. Even on an existing loan, you can switch your credit life insurance to a provider that offers lower rates and benefits without any repercussions for your loan as long as there is no break in cover, explains
3 types of intent that affect your car insurance claim
This means that deciding whether you deliberately caused an accident, may be open for debate. If any form of intent is present during an accident, an insurer has the right to deny the resulting claim.
Du Plessis adds that having an understanding of the three kinds of intent can help to make drivers more mindful of their actions and possible liabilities.
Direct intent
“Direct intent and indirect intent are the forms that are familiar to most people. When a person directly intends to cause damage and succeeds, an insurance policy will not respond. If, for instance, it can be proven that a driver deliberately collided into another vehicle to cause damage to the other vehicle, then direct intent is established.”
Indirect intent
Du Plessis explains that indirect intent applies to the secondary consequences in addition to those desired by a perpetrator. This is when a driver directly intends one consequence of his conduct, but at the same time has knowledge that another consequence will unavoidably or inevitably also occur.
An example would be if it can be proven that a driver deliberately collided into another vehicle to cause damage but knew that the other vehicle would be pushed into a third vehicle, indirect intent is established with regards to the damage to the third vehicle.
Intent-by-possibility
The dvers need to be especially cognisant of the third type of intent identified by the court.
“Intent-by-possibility is not always well understood by most drivers, but it is just as important in determining whether you acted intentionally or negligently, and whether you should be covered. Intent-by-possibility is present when you do not desire to cause damage but foresee the possibility that your actions or inaction may result in damage, and reconcile yourself to this fact.”
He explains that is why drivers may not be covered for seemingly negligent accidents.
“If, for instance, you see another driver speeding towards a red light, and you foresee that such other driver is not going to stop, but you do not stop and wait at the green light to avoid a collision, then your inaction constitutes an act of intent-by-possibility.”
Du Plessis says that drivers can better manage their risks by better understanding their legal
