The Discovery Life product offers you a range of different risk cover options.
The product provides holistic comprehensive risk cover – just like any of its competitors. However, if structured correctly, Discovery Life Insurance is streaks ahead of its competitors. Integrated Risk Cover with Vitality and Medical Aid can be designed to provide the best cover available anywhere in the world. This value is geared to create more value than the actual premiums paid.
The shared-value insurance model allows you to receive a significant portion of your premiums back by managing your health and wellness. This is returned through various Payback and Cash Conversion mechanisms.
Why Discovery Life Benefits
Discovery has a unique AccessCover benefit is a world-first innovation that allows you to convert your life cover into immediate cash on a number of life-changing events (Cancer, Cardiovascular system, etc.)
Discovery’s Capital Disability Benefit ensures you qualify for a pay-out if you cannot perform your nominated occupation, meet objective medical criteria, or fail a number of activities of daily living, with pay-outs even while permanence is being established. The LifeTime option is designed to assist you in regaining your pre-disability quality of life by boosting pay-outs for certain disabilities to enable access to the latest medical technology through the MedTech benefit (Bionic Limbs, Artificial heart).
*See Duane van Zyl’s road to recovery after losing a leg: https://youtu.be/7LLAnSqPNFU
Severe Illness provides a cash lump sum on the diagnosis of a medical condition. The most common claims under these policies are for: cancer, heart attack and stroke, although other conditions can be covered.
Discovery’s Severe Illness Benefit provides whole-body coverage across all severities and the most comprehensive multiple-claims facility in the market.
- The LifeTime option boosts payments of up to 215% based on the long-term impact of an illness and includes a world-leading Cancer Relapse Benefit and Early Cancer benefit.
- Discovery Severe Illness Benefit allows for unlimited multiple claims, regardless of whether the severe illness was related to the first claim or not.
- Global Treatment Benefit provides up to 180% of the benefit amount
Automatic Child Protector Benefit and ParentCare
Replacing you monthly income should you not be able to perform your occupation is vital. Yes, a lump sum may payout from your Severe Illness and/or Capital Disability benefit, but Discovery’s Income Protection Benefit pays for whole of life.
- Discovery’s Income Continuation Benefit protects you for whole-of-life whereas traditional income protection products that expire at retirement
- Certainty and objectivity for you and your family through a range of unique claims underpins.
- Immediate upgrade to 100% of your pre-disability income
- Top up: Functions as a top-up benefit to the Income Continuation Benefit. It thereby allows clients to protect up to 100% of their income on temporary disability.
- The Contribution Protector pays your Discovery product premiums for up to 24 months on temporary disability
- Maternity Premium Waiver – a four-month waiver on your Discovery Life Plan premiums after childbirth
- Protect your annual bonuses
- Family Protector – This Benefit will pay 100% of your ICB sum assured for 6 months if your spouse or child suffers a qualifying severe illness.
Income continuation fund – Every year, a percentage (select 10% or 100%) of your insured value is deposited into your fund. The fund pays out at age 65 in 10 installments proving you with substantial additional income in retirement.
Your children’s education is one of the greatest gifts we can give them. If life happens and they are denied this gift, then they may end up living a life very different from what we had in mind for them. The global education plan provides certainty that they are on a path to an Ivy League future.
- If you die, become disabled or contract a severe illness, your children’s education costs will be paid.
- Residence fees at university are also covered.
- Annual Lump sum payment for additional costs incurred (Uniforms, textbooks, transport etc.)
- University Funder Benefit – Funding up to 100% of your children’s tertiary education, even if you don’t claim.
- Access to a range of schools and universities in South Africa and globally (including Oxford, Cambridge and Yale).
- If your children receive a bursary after a claim has been made under your Global Education Protector, the Bursary CashBack Benefit provides an additional payout to reward your hildren for excelling
When you pass away, any money, property and belongings that you leave to your family will form part of your estate. Your estate is taxable through an estate duty (of up to 25%), which is due when you and your spouse have both passed away (if your spouse inherited your estate). The Estate Planning Benefit allows you to select an amount equal to any estate duties payable, providing a tax-efficient means of wealth transfer and enabling you to leave a legacy for your family.
- The benefit pays on the passing on the last survivor in the marriage, so as to settle any Estate Duty owing.
- Upon first death of either you or your spouse, the premium for the Estate Planning Benefit will cease however the cover will payout on the last survivor.
Discovery’s Plan Choices
Discovery offer a range of different plan types which act as the foundation for your benefits:
Designed for young adults, offering up to 100% of qualifying premiums back for living healthier.
Provides market-equivalent benefits at a highly competitive premium. This plan option does not have all the bells and whistles but may suit your need if you require life cover only for example.
Comprehensive cover with market-leading benefits, such as paybacks and cash conversions.
Available to clients with more than R10 million in life insurance and offers customisable benefits, covering the full range of possible life-changing events.
Comprehensive cover, with illness and disability benefits, that pays out in US Dollars anywhere in the world!
Provides cover business owners for disability, severe illness and death. This provides cover for key persons, buy and sells, contingency liability etc. We will also assist with the draw up of the buy and sells agreements.
Discovery Integration
Discovery Life insurance sets itself apart from its competitors in a number of ways:
- Initial premium discounts of up to 42% with Discovery Health, Discovery Bank and Vitality integration.
- Paybacks of up to 50% of the premiums paid
Immediate boost of 20% additional life cover at no initial premium through the Vitality Fund
- Enhanced income value on the Income Continuation Benefit with a unique 100% of income upgrade
- Retirement Insurance (Cash from life cover at retirement age)
- Additional boost to retirement income from life cover
- Payback of all the unused Discovery medical aid risk premiums
Reinstatement benefit and multiple claims
- Paid up standard premium pattern – premiums cease at age 65 or 20 years, however you will have cover for whole of life.
Discovery Life FAQ’s
Below are some of the frequently asked questions we receive about the Discovery Life Insurance options. If you need to know more about life insurance or have any questions, that you don’t see listed below please speak to one of our consultants.
Please note that there is a 30 day cancellation notice period. If you do not want the premium to go through on the next debit run, please cancel the debit order with your bank.
No, you need to request for a review to be done before your policy anniversary has run. Discovery will not backdate and adjust premiums, only future premiums will be adjusted (if applicable).
In short, no. You will receive an exclusion for the specific health condition. However, Discovery will provide you with cover for other conditions. We have also seen Discovery Life provide cover for members who have pre-existing health conditions – it is always worth applying for cover but remember, please always fully disclosed all medical information.
Yes, when applying for cover you will be required to have an HIV test. If you have done one for your previous Vitality Health Check, the underwriters may use these results.
- MPF is a unique benefit to Discovery in the market
- MPF establishes that there is always a minimum level of cover, regardless of previous multiple claims.
- The MPF restores the Life Fund back to the MPF level (this is expressed as a percentage), 14 days after a claim.
- Example: John has R1m Life Cover and R500 000 Capital Disability cover. He is in a car accident and is disabled. He receives a Disability pay-out of R500 000. This subsequently reduced his Life Cove to R500 000, but because John has a 100% MPF benefit, 14 days after this claim, his Life Cover and his Capital Disability benefit is restored back to R1m. John now has his full initial cover restored.
- Discovery’s Severe Illness Benefit provides whole-body coverage across all severities and the most comprehensive multiple-claims facility in the market.
- The LifeTime option boosts payments of up to 215% based on the long-term impact of an illness and includes a world-leading Cancer Relapse Benefit.
- Discovery Severe Illness Benefit allows for multiple claims, regardless of whether the severe illness was related to the first claim or not.
- Life cover is lIfe cover and does not differ,
- However, Discovery have a unique AccessCover benefit that allows you to convert your life cover into immediate cash on a number of life-changing events (Cancer, Cardiovascular system etc.)
This can be Online on the Discovery website, or you can complete the attached beneficiary nomination form.
Discovery Life products do not have any surrender or loan values. However, your policy may have a Cash Conversion Benefit whereby you can receive a percentage of your life cover as a cash pay-out from age 65. The benefit has evolved over time so we would see whether you have the old benefit, where the full cash conversion benefit pays out at age 65, or in our equal installments at ages 65, 69, 73, and 77. We see this as a boost to retirement savings.
Your policy has a 30 day grace period. Any claims considered in this period will be honoured. However should your policy be 2 months in arrears, any claims will not be valid. Should your policy be more than 3 months in arrears, the policy will lapse.
Premiums are calculated using many factors to determine your risk profile namely: age, gender, health, marital status, occupation, qualification, hazardous activities, and lifestyle.
Please be in contact with us. We will request the necessary forms from Discovery Life Claims. There will be a form for the claimant to complete and a form for the treating doctor/specialist to complete. Generally, we may also require doctors report, payslips, SARS ITA34 – but this is depedant on the type of claim.
When there is an increase in cover, there is an increase in risk taken on by the insurer. Medicals are required in order to see if your risk has changed in any way since the inception of the cover.
The law prevents Insurance Companies from paying the proceeds of a policy directly to a child who is not yet 18 years old. The payment will be made to either the minors’ legal guardian (if appointed), or if no legal guardian has been appointed, the proceeds will be paid to the Guardian’s Fund – which is administered by the Master of the High Court. We see a problem with both of these options: if paid to the legal guardian, the proceeds might never reach the minor for whom it was intended. If paid into the Guardians Fund, accessing the money can be quite cumbersome. What we suggest for a single parent is to set up a Testamentary Trust. The Testamentary Trust is set up only on the passing of the parent and is structured to provide financial care for a minor up until he/she is 18 years old. This way, the money is protected for the minor’s use only.
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If you are looking for a leading life insurance – then look no further! At PvB & Associates, we offer multiple Discovery Life options for you and your family. Get in touch with us today.
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