Avbob splashes bonuses on clients

Insurer celebrates its 100th birthday

If you’re an Avbob policyholder, you may be in for a cash bonus or a free funeral benefit.

To mark its 100th year as an undertaker and insurer, Avbob announced that it’s making its largest special bonus allocation of R3-billion to its policyholders.

Approximately 1.8 million of Avbob’s 2 million policyholders will benefit from the special bonus, Adriaan Bester, the general manager of corporate affairs at Avbob, says.

Over the past decade, Avbob has allocated more than R8billion to members in the form of special bonuses and free funeral benefits, Bester says.

Previous bonuses and free funeral benefits were available when an insured person passed away, but, Bester says, this bonus benefit is different in that it becomes payable to a policyholder when they reach the age of 65, if their policy has been in force for over 10 years.

“If you pass away before age 65 and your policy has been in force for 10 years, the bonus will be paid together with the insured amount when a claim is submitted,” said Bester.

“To qualify for the benefit your policy must have been in force on June 30 this year. The benefit will be allocated to your Avbob Reward Account.”

From September 1, policyholders who are already 65 years old and whose policies have been in force for more than 10 years will be able to request a payout of their reward account on the next anniversary of their policies.

Bester says bonuses such as this year’s bonus are derived from surplus profits Avbob makes from its policies and investment income. The surplus profits are amounts beyond the amount the society retains as adequate capital to pay out claims.

Avbob is a mutual society, which means the organisation is owned by its members or policyholders. This means that profits are reinvested rather than paid out as dividends to shareholders as they would be in a public limited company.

If you’re an Avbob policyholder, the benefit due to you will be determined by a number of factors, including the type of premium that you’re paying, the term of your policy, and how long it has been in force, Bester says.

Policies such as Savings Plan policies do not qualify for the special bonus. To find out if one qualifies for a benefit, they should contact their nearest Avbob branch or the Avbob National Call Centre on 0861 28 26 21.