What You Need to Know

• Protection for you and your family. Family is the most important asset that you can have. In most scenarios your family may depend on your financial support to enjoy a decent standard of living.
• Motor insurance could pay the cost of repairs to your vehicle if you have an accident.
• Education insurance helps guarantee education for your children.
• Life insurance could provide your family with money to support themselves when you die or you suffer life-long disablement.
• Home insurance pay for the cost to repair your home if there is a fire in your house, or that Home theater gets broken.
• Healthcare insurance helps pay your and family’s or employee’s medical bills
• Liability insurance helps to pay parties (third parties) that are affected by your business operations or your actions or those of your employees while undertaking professional duties or offering professional advice.
• Employee covers (WIBA & Group Personal Accident) takes care of your employees as they perform the duties that you have assigned them.
• Reduce stress during difficulty times. None of us can see or predetermine future events. Unforeseen tragedies such as illness, injury or permanent disability, even death can leave you and your family facing tremendous financial strain, emotional stress, and even grief

A pension is a saving you make to support yourself in later life. You may receive this a part of your employment benefit from your employer or you can also set one up yourself. Pension Plans are designed to provide you with an income to live on when you retire and it has tax benefits.

Workplace pension is organized through an employer. Both the employee and employer must put in a minimum contribution to the fund. The employee can also make an additional contribution to his/her fund. Individual Personal Pension Plan is a personal savings plan that is designed to enable individuals save for their future or retirement. It is suitable for individuals who are self-employed or small business owners

• Future will thank you saving in your youth
• Retirement is guaranteed
• To enjoy your retirement
• To live longer

Below are some insurance terms and meaning you’ll likely come across.

• Insured: Persons who has taken up an insurance policy and pays premium
• Insurer: Insurance company is the company that accepts risks after receiving premiums and pays claims.
• Accident: an unexpected event or circumstance without deliberate intent.
• Proposal form. This is an application form completed by a potential customer for the purposes of getting an insurance cover from an insurance company.
• Policy. This a legal contract that is issued by an insurance company to the insured. It is the evidence of an insurance contract that contains the terms, conditions, rights and obligations of the Insured and the Insurance company in the contract.
• Policy period. This is the period of insurance for which one is covered, it is the beginning and end of date of the policy.
• Premium: Amount of money you pay to buy insurance. It is paid monthly, quarterly or annually.
• Exclusions Things that are not covered by your policy. Read your policy carefully and make sure you understand what is and is not covered as illustrated below;

Health insurance policies may exclude cosmetic surgeries.
Motor Insurance policies exclude mechanical breakdown costs.
Property insurance policies do not pay for termite damage, loss from rust or mold.

• Deductible or excess. Before you purchase insurance, ensure that you understand the amount of money you will to the insurance company or to the hospital or doctor. Deductible is the amount you MUST pay out of your own pocket before the insurance policy kicks in.
• Co-Pay. This is the amount of money you MUST pay out of pocket when you visit a medical service facility for treatment.
• Pre-existing Conditions. These are injuries or illnesses that you may have prior to getting a medical insurance cover.
• Chronic illnesses. A chronic illness is a long-term health condition that may not have a cure and require long term management. e.g. Diabetes, Asthma, Arthritis, Heart Disease
• Beneficiary. This is an individual who may become eligible to receive insurance payment due to will, life insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, trust or other contract.
• Arbitration. An out of court binding dispute resolution mechanism

You pay a fee called a premium, and in exchange, the insurance company agrees to pay you a certain amount of money if the event/risk you are insuring against is covered and happens during the term of the policy.

The details of insurance contract, e.g. what is covered, how much is covered are defined in your insurance policy. The insurance policy is a contract between you and the insurance company.

• Before you purchase insurance, ensure that all your questions are answered so you can make informed decisions.
• Ensure that a policy document is issued to you.
• Ensure you pay your insurance directly to the insurance company and receipts issued to you.

Insurance fraud is a deliberate deception against an insurance company by an insured, insurance employee, agent or any service provider for the purpose of a financial gain. Insurance fraud includes and not limited to;

• Misrepresentation of facts during insurance application of while claiming from an insurance company
• Inflating claims.
• Submitting claims for injuries or damages that never occurred.
• Staging accidents.
• False or unnecessary issuance of prescription drugs
• Billing for services not rendered
• Billing for a non-covered service as a covered service

Yes! If found guilty, a fine maybe imposed or one may face a jail term.

Suspected insurance fraud matters are reported to Insurance Fraud Investigation Unit (IFU) which is a specialized unit under Directorate of Criminal Investigation for investigation and prosecution.

• Ensure the agent you are dealing with is registered.
• Ensure you receive a policy document, understand the terms of the contract.
• If the premium being offered is unreasonably low, think twice.
• Ensure you receive receipts of premium payment from your insurer.
• Comply with terms and conditions within your policy as issued by your insurer.
• Report suspected fraud activities to your insurer.