By Nic Smit, Chief Product Actuary at Bidvest Life
Awareness of the need for every working South African to protect their income has seen a remarkable rise. Initially, income protection was reserved for traditionally professional lives, leaving those in non-traditional occupations without a financial safety net. Excluded from this were many of the occupations that have gained recent popularity, like influencers and online fitness instructors for example. Thankfully today, income protection is no longer a niche product and is offered by all the major insurers in some form.
As the nature of work evolves, so too have the product offerings that protect those earning a monthly income from their most likely risks: injury, illness, and critical illness. Bidvest Life’s Event Based Cover provides cover to many of the occupations that would otherwise not qualify for income protection. This includes individuals with a high risk of being injured while working, occupations that are highly sensitive to claim and individuals who aren’t employed in a traditional structure.
With the importance of income protection now well-accepted, the focus shifts to delivering even more value through small yet impactful enhancements to the existing product. Innovative ideas often arise from unexpected sources, such as casual conversations and anecdotal insights from employees and financial advisers who interact with clients regularly. Creating a continuous feedback loop that includes everyone in the client-facing value-chain, and then interrogating the results to pinpoint trends, can position life insurers to better meet clients’ true needs.
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Approaching any product development or product enhancements with an empathetic lens – putting people first when solving problems, developing benefits and building relationships – determines the success of the product at design, implementation and launch stage. Product enhancements are not about adding new features for the sake of it, or purely with the intent of growing bottom-line revenue. When driven by empathy, they solve real problems and make it easy for both advisers and clients to understand and choose the best benefits available to them for their specific needs.
According to Bidvest Life’s 2022 Claims Report, 54% of income protection claims lasted less than 30 days.1 This means that choosing a 30-day waiting period instead of a 7-day waiting period would cover you for less than half of the claim events covered by the 7-day waiting period. Given that income protection is usually sold on either a 7- or 30-day waiting period, the choice between these two waiting periods is an important decision.
To address this need, Bidvest Life has removed the “professionals” list that previously determined who qualified for a 7-day waiting period, widening the net to include those with a three-year degree, B-Tech, or advanced diploma. Effectively, anyone with an education equivalent to an NQF Level 7 now qualifies for the 7-day waiting period*.
For financial advisers, having access to income protection products developed around client’s real needs can have a material impact in a performance-driven market. It’s your competitive edge – meaning better quality cover for your clients, an increased level of trust and loyalty and, in turn, a stronger, more resilient and financially successful business.
1Bidvest Life 2020 Claims Report
*Disclaimer: T’s and C’s apply.