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The living benefits of life insurance

Apr 13, 2022

Whether you’re married with kids or have a partner or other relatives who depend on you financially, having life insurance should be an integral part of your household budget. Car crashes are expensive to fix, so you took vehicle insurance. We live in a country with one of the highest crime rates in the world and your household contents like your TV and washing machines are costly to replace, so you also probably took insurance home and contents insurance. Cogently then, why wouldn’t you also take out insurance on your life?

If you were to die unexpectedly, your family would receive a lump sum – and you have peace of mind in knowing that they’ll have reserves to help them carry on without you. This is the general and widely understood benefit of life insurance. While this benefit is applicable for all kinds of life insurance; depending on the particular plan and what it covers, there are other significant benefits that you and your family can enjoy while you’re still alive.

Financial confidence that your family will have financial steadiness when you are no longer around can be generated from all types of life insurance. However, the more life insurance you have, the more benefits it will provide to your family when needed. For example, some people receive a nominal amount of life insurance – say R200 000 through their workplace. In theory that might sound like a decent amount of money, but the reality is that it might only be enough to cover funeral expenses and a few bond payments. With a larger coverage amount, your family can realize a whole lot more, including income protection, debt repayment, and severe illness cover.

Dare say what would happen on the off chance that you fell critically ill or were involved in a car crash and survived but couldn’t work for a prolonged important period of time. Your medical aid would not be able to cover everything.

Imagine the ripple effect of that situation. Not working, or taking unpaid leave in case you’ve depleted your leave days means a lower salary, or sometimes no salary at all. However not working doesn’t mean all your financial obligations also fall away. Your car installments, lease or bond, and other household expenses still need to be paid every month. This is where severe illness covers and income protection from life insurance come in. With this kind of cover, you can receive a lump sum if you’re diagnosed with a serious condition or are incapacitated due to a car accident. All the associated costs that your medical aid doesn’t cover can be covered with these.

Income protection cover can pay up to 100% of your net income while you’re incapacitated to help you cover your living expenses. In case you’ve got cover with your job, it’s particularly vital to understand precisely what you’re covered for. Numerous companies will offer life cover and wage assurance, but don’t offer severe illness or lump sum disability benefits.

Living through a severe illness isn’t as only difficult on you, but on your loved ones too. Its best to choose critical illness cover that pays out a lump sum that you can utilize any way you’d like. Whether it’s for hiring extra help so your family can take a break or for covering additional treatment your medical aid won’t pay for, this living benefit of life insurance can go a long way towards making your life worth living when the unthinkable happens. Contact us today, we can help you find the best life insurance policy for your specific needs.