Your money questions answered
Your article “When is a guaranteed premium not?” (December 3) quotes BrightRock CEO Schalk Malan.
Three years ago, my husband approached a broker for life cover.
One important requirement was that debit order escalations be limited as they can get high pretty quickly. The broker offered my husband a BrightRock policy and the agreed annual escalation of 5% was specified in the policy.
The policy initiated in May 2014.
Every September, the debit order would either be doubled or issued on the wrong day, and this year was no exception. When I looked at the debit order, I realised that it had exceeded the highest original quoted amount. I contacted the broker for his comments. After some weeks, his response was:
1. Sanlam had taken over BrightRock and escalated the debit orders;
2. He no longer dealt with these policies because the commission, originally very high, was now very low;
3. He further suggested we should rather take out another policy with a much higher amount of cover.
He did not answer the question “Why are BrightRock’s debit orders different to the original quote?” BrightRock has never issued any annual notices relating to this policy, such as the change of underwriter, change of policy number, any kind of updates, or requests for updates of personal details.
It seems strange that Mr Malan is happy to air his views and has so much to say about insurance companies that do not live up to their promises, when he seems to follow the same practice. Policyholder’s intrigued wife
Schalk Malan, CEO of BrightRock, responds:
The policyholder took out his original BrightRock policy in June 2014. However, we received a request to increase the cover on the policy, which took effect on December 1 2015. The policyholder signed the BrightRock Cover Proposal (quote document) authorising these changes, which increased his monthly premiums. We issued a revised policy document reflecting the new cover amounts, and the higher premium. The premium projections that the policyholder’s wife attached to her e-mail are from her husband’s original policy document and pre-date the requested increase in his cover and premiums. We have made two debit order errors over the course of the policy — in August 2016 and September 2017. In both instances, we contacted the policyholder immediately to rectify our mistake and apologise for it. Last week, we again apologised for these two errors and the inconvenience caused. We have issued policy renewal letters for the policyholder’s policy every year since his cover started, as well as issuing him with an updated policy document following the changes made to his cover. The majority of these communications were sent by e-mail to both the policyholder and his adviser. The comments attributed to the broker are untrue. The increase in the policyholder’s premium is due only to the increase in his cover; our recent transaction with Sanlam has no bearing on clients’ monthly premiums. Commission payments are strictly regulated and BrightRock pays statutory commission only. There has been no change in BrightRock’s commission model.