More Than Legal offers powerful legal insurance and lifestyle benefits

Wayne Mostert, Managing Director of MTL.

Groundbreaking legal insurance products enter through new GENRIC-backed UMA.

More Than Legal (MTL), a new underwriting management agency (UMA) that is part of the GENRIC Insurance group, brings a fresh approach to legal insurance in South Africa through its pioneering list of products, as well as its innovative Lifestyle Benefits programme.

However, the most immediate distinguishing feature of MTL’s policies compared to other legal insurance offerings in the market is that MTL has partnered with Klinkenberg Inc, one of the most reputable and experienced law firms in the country, to handle the consultation and legal support side of the policy.

“Having Klinkenberg on board is a huge benefit to policyholders because you instantly have access to a network of some of the most experienced lawyers in the country, each of whom is a specialist in his or her field,” says Wayne Mostert, Managing Director of MTL. “The benefit of having this network is clear, compared to having access to only a single in-house person who might not have experience in the legal field you might require as a policyholder.”

MTL has created a suite of conventional legal insurance policies that can be easily customised to individual needs, as well as more specialised legal insurance tools, each policy backed by 24-hour access to legal advice from the Klinkenberg experts.

First mediation policy

MTL’s most recent offering that is a genuine first for South African insurance is the Education Protection Plan, a policy aimed at teachers. The policy provides mediation support for educators in the event of psychological, verbal and physical abuse inflicted by students or their parents.

“This is the first mediation plan to launch in South Africa, as far as I’m aware,” says Mostert. “There is increasingly an immense need for mediation assistance in divergent industries that is not answered from anywhere at this point. One of the statistics we’ve encountered is that as much as 52% of teachers in South Africa are being abused, and this is of cases that are reported.”

More mediation products are on MTL’s drawing board and a space to watch, Mostert says.

“We want to be more proactive with our products and address areas of risk that exist in various industries, but where people are just completely exposed because there simply are no solutions in existence to address these risks,” he explains.

Security gets peace of mind

MTL also identified security guards’ exposure to prosecution because they often have to act with force in very dangerous circumstances and can find themselves on the receiving end of a legal dispute, but with very little recourse available to defend themselves.

With the Security Guards Protection Plan security guards have a legal defensive product that offers insurance protection in the event of arrest for an alleged criminal offence, Mostert explains.

The cover includes bail cover up to R5,000 per matter, legal representation, as well as insurance for the policyholder in the event of an alleged criminal offence while off duty.

Aside from MTL’s groundbreaking innovation in new products, all policies are accompanied by MTL’s unique Lifestyle Benefits programme.

“Our vision is that we offer not just solid peace of mind in the event of a legal issue arising, but really distinguish our offering through the extras,” says Mostert.

Value for money

The programme offers all policyholders and their named beneficiaries access to: emergency medical services; a health professional network that is available 24 hours, seven days a week; personal health advisers; two-for-one movie tickets; discounts at certain restaurants; and discount on travel.

This gives policyholders immediate value for their money, irrespective of whether they claim on their policies or not.

Mostert explains: “Policyholders pay a monthly premium and has at the end of each instalment very real, tangible benefits. You’re getting something in return even when you are fortunate enough to not have to use your legal insurance.”

All MTL policies are underwritten by A-rated short-term insurer, GENRIC Insurance Company. GENRIC has also bought a 26% stake in the new UMA, illustrating close alignment in vision between the two partners.

“GENRIC is vastly experienced in the niche product market,” Mostert says. “Getting new products developed and to the market, going from an idea to a physical product that brokers can offer is a relatively quick process, but thorough and professional.”