BrightRock offers lifetime guarantee on death cover

Needs-matched life insurer, BrightRock, has just launched another level of certainty for clients – a guarantee on all full premium increases for death cover policies.

This means that BrightRock clients will know exactly by how much their premiums on their death cover will increase by, for the entire duration of their policy, even if the policy covers the rest of their lives.

“Clients want to feel certain that their life insurance will be there when they need it,” says Schalk Malan, CEO at BrightRock. “With the economic challenges that have come with COVID-19 and an economy in recession, our clients want cover that offers the best value for money, and sustainable cover they know they’ll be able to afford in the future. That’s where premium guarantees play such a vital role – providing clients with certainty of what they’ll pay today, and in the years to come, for their life insurance cover.”

BrightRock’s death cover premium guarantee applies to the full premium increase percentage and death cover premium increases of 5% or more. It’s also applicable to premiums that are increasing at inflation or in excess of inflation. This means that no matter what happens to the economy, BrightRock’s clients will have peace of mind that the increases on their death cover premiums will be the same as the increases that they selected when they took out their policy. Clients get to keep their original cover, along with guaranteed cover increases, and will know exactly what it’ll cost them – now and in the future.

Malan notes that BrightRock’s industry-leading premium guarantees have always provided certainty and transparency, with the insurer guaranteeing 100% of its premium increases for the first 10 years of the cover term, as well as disclosing detailed cover and premium projections to clients, so they have a clear picture of exactly what they will pay in the future. However, looking at the life industry, he says, it’s evident that not all premium guarantees are made equal.

“The quality of a premium guarantee is a function of two things. Firstly, how much of the total premium increase is guaranteed, and secondly how long the premium guarantee applies for,” explains Malan. “The higher the proportion of the premium increase that’s guaranteed, or the longer the premium is guaranteed for, the better. Ideally, 100% of the premium increase should be guaranteed for the longest period of time. But clients are often placed in a position where they have to choose one or the other.”

BrightRock’s approach is based on the fact that insurers should offer clients the best of both of these factors. The company achieves this by:

• Providing a genuine guarantee – that is, where clients know what they’ll pay next year for a given rate of inflation, at a reasonable cost;
• Guaranteeing both the full premium and cover increase at the same time;
• Guaranteeing the full proportion of the premium increase percentage that applies when the client’s premium increases, with cover priced for the appropriate term of the need, and without relying on an increase after the guaranteed period.

Malan concludes, “Above all, BrightRock believes that insurers must do what they say and manage clients’ expectations, which is especially pertinent when it comes to premium guarantees, as this is often when clients lose faith in the insurance industry. We are proud to offer another way we can service our clients even better and give them the peace of mind that their life insurance should offer them.”