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Your life and funeral policies give your family financial peace of mind. A funeral policy makes sure you can bury loved ones with dignity. And when you pass on a life policy can make sure your family doesn’t suffer too much financial hardship. So you want to know that the claim payout for your life and/or funeral policy goes to the right person. This means you need to keep the members and beneficiaries on your policy up to date and add members and beneficiaries from time to time as your family changes. We’ve got the details on how to do this below.
Insurance jargon buster
Insurance policies use some jargon, so first, let’s get to know some terms better.
A beneficiary is someone who receives benefits on death, such as the payment from a life or funeral policy.
Funeral policies have members who are insured up to a certain amount for the cost of a funeral. A main member is the main member on the funeral policy and additional members include spouses, children and extended family members. One of the advantages of having additional members on your funeral policy is that the policy can continue when the main member passes on.
When a member passes the policy will pay the insured amount to the beneficiary.
1Life funeral policies pay just one beneficiary. So when the main member on a funeral policy dies the payout will go to the beneficiary. If an additional member passes on the main member receives the payout.
1Life life policies have a life assured, whose life is insured for a certain amount. When the life assured passes on the claim is paid to the beneficiary. 1Life life policies can have multiple beneficiaries such as a spouse and children.
Adding a member to your 1Life funeral policy
Who can add members? The main member. This is the person who owns the policy, receives all the correspondence and is responsible for paying the premium.
Why add members? The main member can add additional members to the funeral policy if they want to make sure they can cover the cost of their funeral in the unfortunate event of their death. 1Life funeral policies also have a continuation option, so the policy can continue if the main member passes on. This is a lot more convenient than having to take out a new policy.
Who can be added as an additional member? 1Life funeral policies allow for a main member, their spouse and five children, and 11 extended family members such as parents, cousins, and additional spouses or children.
Who receives the payout from a claim? If the main member passes on, the named beneficiary receives the payout. If an additional member passes on the main member receives the payout.
How: Adding a member is as easy as calling us and completing a form so we can add a member or members. You’ll need all the details such as name, date of birth, contact details and their relationship to the main member. Medicals are not required.
Adding a beneficiary to your life policy
Who can add a beneficiary? The life assured, who is the owner of the policy, can add a beneficiary to their life policy.
Why add a beneficiary? If you have people who depend on your income, you can make sure the financial impact of your passing is minimised by naming them as a beneficiary in your life policy.
Who can be added as a beneficiary? Anyone who depends on your income such as a child, spouse or family member, or who you wish to benefit from the proceeds of the policy.
Who receives the payout from a claim? All the beneficiaries in the percentage nominated by the member, so it might be spouse 50% and two children 25% each. If no percentage has been given, each beneficiary will be paid an equal share, so remember to tell us what percentage each beneficiary should receive when you nominate a new beneficiary.
How: Give us a call and have the details such as the name, birth date, ID number and contact details so we can add a beneficiary to your policy.
Top tips when adding members and beneficiaries
- Review your members and beneficiaries when you review your policies annually or when there is a major life change such as marriage or the birth of a child. Make sure you have the right people named with their current contact details. You can find the details of members and beneficiaries in your policy schedule.
- Tell members and beneficiaries that you have included them on your policy and leave an instruction note on what to do in the event of your death so they know how to claim.
- 1Life funeral policies have cover limits for additional members. So a principal member and their spouse or partner can take funeral cover for up R100 000, parents and extended family members up to R50 000. The maximum cover offered for children depends on age. Children under age 5 can have maximum R10 000 cover, aged 6 - 13 R15 000 and aged 14 - 21 R50 000. So as your children grow make sure their cover amounts are appropriate and within the rules of the policy, and that they still qualify for the benefits.
- Avoid naming your estate as a beneficiary on your life policy because this can delay payments of the claim to your heirs. Payments to life insurance beneficiaries can be made in a few days, with the right documentation. Estates can take months, even years to settle and pay heirs.
- If you are naming minor children as beneficiaries make sure there is a trust set up to look after the funds or the money will be paid into the Guardians Fund, which limits the amounts payable to your children
Keep up to date
1Life makes it simple for you to add or change members and beneficiaries on your life and funeral policies as your life circumstances change. Keep your information up to date and you can be sure that the claim payout will go to the right people without delay.
