Investigation blows open alleged premiums misappropriation insurance scandal
13 May 2021 6:58 PM
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Investigative journo Pauli Van Wyk says four SA insurance giants have lost R944m in total by using Insure Group as intermediary.
An alleged insurance scandal has led to huge losses for at least four South African insurance giants.
A Daily Maverick investigation has found that Santam, Hollard, Old Mutual and Guardrisk lost R944-million between them due to the actions of intermediary Insure Group Managers.
Insure Group collected insurance premiums from customers and invested cash it was meant to pay over to the companies into its own illiquid, high-risk and ultimately loss-making assets writes Pauli van Wyk.
When the fraud at VBS Mutual Bank was uncovered in 2018, the bank’s implosion pulled away the blanket covering another black hole, of R1.7bn – this time in the insurance sector.
Tito Mboweni
NATIONAL NEWS - Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has published the Annual Policy Benefit Escalations regarding the Demarcation Regulations, regulated under section 72 of the Long-term Insurance Act and section 70 of the Short-term Insurance.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Treasury said the regulations specify which types of contracts are regulated under the Long-term Insurance Act (LTIA) and the Short-term Insurance Act (STIA) as health policies, and accident and health policies, respectively, and accordingly are excluded from the Medical Schemes Act.
“Regulation 7.2(2) of the Regulations provides that all amounts referred to in sub-regulation (1) escalate annually, from the effective date, by the consumer price index (CPI) annual inflation rate published by Statistics South Africa,” read the statement.
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Policy renegotiations: The insurance industryâs best-kept secret
By Opinion
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The start of the year is a great chance to reboot your personal finances â and that starts with a renegotiation of your insurance policies. Insurers are completely open to this, yet many consumers donât know itâs an option.
âA consumer can renegotiate their short-term insurance policy as often as they deem it fit,â says Peter Nkhuna, Senior Assistant Ombudsman at the Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance (OSTI). This means that youâre not stuck forever with the premiums that you were offered when you first took out the policy.