life-insurance-company

Which life insurance company is the best?

life insurance company

If you do not deal with finances or insurance- or investment matters on a regular basis, you are probably often confronted with this question “Which life insurance company is the best?”

How do I choose the best life insurance company?

The most truthful answer I as an independent advisor can give you – there is no straight forward answer to that question.

Most of the well-known established insurance companies offer value. There is no such thing as insurance company A is better than insurance company B (referring to the bigger, well known accredited companies of course).

The variety of products and solutions offered by different companies are so wide that it is impossible to compare one company to another on a general basis. Due to changing legislation, insurance companies are extremely competitive w.r.t product offering, pricing, transparency etc.

Insurance company A may offer you the best package, and insurance company B might offer your spouse the best package. It absolutely depends on a variety of factors (gender, age, income, qualification, type and level of cover you request, your occupation, smoker or non-smoker etc.)

Some occasions call for stockings and high heels, and some for jeans and tekkies. It is the same in insurance. The insurance company you choose depends on the person (client) and the purpose/goal the product is intended for. For this reason I believe it is to your benefit to deal with an independent financial advisor who is not bound to one insurer. This is the only way you will make sense of this maize. 

 

The one question I am regularly confronted with: “My dad took out a pension policy (retirement annuity) with Insurer A 30 years ago and the proceeds are much less than was promised. Surely insurer A is a horrible company? Which is the best insurance company?”

Sadly, this story is relevant to most insurance companies. Up until approximately 10 years ago, insurance companies were not transparent regarding costs on these products. This means that growth on the underlying investment funds were hampered by high admin fees. This, combined with the fact that a lot of insurance brokers did not revisit their clients on at least a bi-annual basis to review their investment funds, lead to disappointing returns.

Legislation totally reformed this situation. The focus now are on transparency and fees/costs. Insurance companies are now in a constant battle to compete on:

1) Service delivery,

2) Transparency, and

3) Costs.

For this reason, the above question surfaces less and less.

Part of an independent financial advisor or financial planner’s job is to seek the best solution for his or her client’s specific needs. This solution includes the insurance company that can offer you the best insurance deal.He/she needs to shop around and compare quotes.

The next statement might scream “cliché”, but it holds water. Every client’s situation is different and you need a tailor made solution. There is not one insurance company that offers the best suited tailor made solution to everyone. You need to do insurance comparisons between different insurance companies. You need to get advice from someone who does not favour one specific company for whatever reason. Your financial advisor should be totally independent.

Our company, Origin Financial Services, are contracted with all the major and most specialised insurance- and investment companies (Momentum, Discovery, Sanlam, Liberty, Old Mutual, PPS, SA Stock Broking, etc.). Look for a broker or financial advisor in a similar environment. Dealing with a professional, independent financial services company will add value to your insurance- and or investment portfolio. Seek a financial services company / brokerage that can deal with all your financial needs. This will save you the trouble of running around between different brokers. Look for a company that can assist you with life insurance, retirement planning, investments, car and household insurance, commercial short term insurance, savings, medical aid, tax returns etc.

One person alone cannot be an expert in all these fields, even if they advocate to be. But within a professional established brokerage or financial services company, there are various professionals who can deal with all your financial needs under one umbrella. Within that one company they have all your information and they talk to each other to collectively offer you the best possible or most suited financial offering. You walk a path with such a company and become part of their family.

Such a company doesn’t’ sell you a product, they walk the line with you for years to come. I know it sounds like a Johnny Cash song, but it is as true as the song itself….

Johan Graaff

Johan Graaff

Certified Financial Planner

Origin Financial Services

johang@originfin.com

086 118 7878       

 

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