Group Life Assurance

As Southern Africa's leading provider of death and disability benefits, Old Mutual Group Assurance delivers practical, flexible group life cover solutions to meet your company's needs.

There are three options on offer:

Group Life Assurance
Group Life Assurance (GLA) provides life cover on a defined benefit basis for members of a group. On the death of a member, a predetermined (defined) lump sum will be paid to the beneficiaries. Additional benefits may be added to the GLA cover to suit the specific needs of a group.

Key features
- Paid out as a defined lump sum benefit.
- Benefits can be expressed as a multiple of salary, formula-driven or as a flat cover (monetary) amount.
- Cross-subsidies occur between younger and older members.
- The Funeral Support Service is a free of charge service, which is available to all members and their immediate family (spouse and dependent children).
Value to client
- Benefits are easily understood.
- The funeral support service alleviates the trauma and expenses associated with making funeral arrangements.
- The defined lump sum benefit allows for easier planning.
Defined Contribution (DC) Risk
Defined Contribution Risk is a package that applies the principle of defined contribution retirement funds to group assurance arrangements.

Lump sum death and disability cover can be purchased on a defined contribution basis, which means that the contribution rate is specified from the outset and the benefit (cover) varies depending on the cost.

Key features
- Fixed contribution rate specified from the outset.
- Benefits expressed as a multiple of salary.
- The multiple varies by age according to the amount of cover purchased in each age group.
Value to client
- The open-ended liability is removed by placing a cap on the overall cost of risk benefits.
- Fits into the defined contribution retirement fund framework.
- Cross-subsidies between the younger and older members can largely be removed.
- Benefits are more closely aligned to age-related needs.
Optional Risk Benefits (ORB)
Optional Risk Benefit (ORB) is a flexible risk benefit solution designed to meet each employee's cover needs.

Through ORB, cover flexibility is provided for members by providing a compulsory minimum level of risk cover coupled with the facility for members to purchase additional cover, depending on their unique circumstances.

Key features
- The core benefit is the compulsory minimum level of cover (core cover) for all eligible members, to meet their basic life cover needs.
- The flexible benefit provides members with the choice of purchasing additional protection (flexible cover), to suit their unique circumstances.
- Allows individuals to change cover as their needs change over time.
- Members may change their flexible cover at specified events, e.g. marriage, birth or adoption of a child, scheme anniversary.
Value to client
- Maximises the reward package to members by introducing the flexibility to purchase only the cover required.
- Particularly suitable for employers who have flexible remuneration practices.
- Provides fund sponsors with another option for containing increases in risk costs and protecting contributions towards retirement funding, while still making cover available to members.
- Reduces cross-subsidies between members.

Additional Benefits

With all three of the options listed above, you have the ability to select one or more of the following as an additional benefit:

Terminal Illness Benefit

With the alarming rate of HIV/AIDS deaths and the increasing incidence of terminal illnesses, this much-needed benefit allows for the early payment of death benefits on diagnosis of terminal HIV/AIDS and other terminal illnesses.

Child Education Benefit

The educational needs of children are put under increased pressure when a parent passes away. The Child Education Benefit provides an income for each of the surviving children to approximately cover the expected costs of education. While this benefit is designed to provide for the child’s educational costs, there is flexibility around how it may be utilised.

Healthcare Protection Benefit

On the death of the member, an income is paid to approximately cover the expected medical aid premium costs of the dependants. A range of escalation options is available. While this benefit is designed to provide for medical aid premium costs, there is flexibility on how it may be utilised.

Accident Death Cover

People are generally not prepared for the sudden death of an income earner. Death by accident could leave the family with inevitable debts and expenses that they had not anticipated and for which no financial provision has been made. In certain circumstances the chance of accidental death is relatively high, and employers may wish to provide accidental death cover in order to give the employee and his/her family peace of mind.

Spouse's Life Cover

The death of a spouse is not only traumatic, but it can also be financially disastrous. Very few people are ever prepared for the loss of a second income, medical costs or many other life adjustment expenses. Rather than providing separate cover for themselves, spouses can also benefit from the group arrangements through the provision of Spouse's Life Cover.

Spouse's and Child's Pension Cover

When an employee dies, the remaining spouse is often left without an income and the dependants are as a result left with a heavy financial burden. The Spouse's and Child's Pension Cover is designed to provide for the remaining family members.