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Insurance

How insurance works in South Africa

You pay a premium. The insurer pays a defined claim if the event is covered and you met the conditions. The schedule is the product.

Reviewed 29 October 2026 by the WiT Money editorial team. This is general information, not a recommendation from a named adviser.

Key points

  • The brand that sold the policy may not be the insurer.
  • An excess is the amount you carry. It is not a reason the claim is approved.
  • Leaving out a material fact can undo a claim.

Short-term insurance covers things like cars and homes for a period, usually a month that renews. Long-term insurance covers life, disability and funeral events on a different statute and a different kind of promise. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority supervises conduct. The Prudential Authority supervises the solvency of insurers. They are not the same office.

You must tell the insurer the facts that would matter to the underwriting. A claim can be rejected for non-disclosure even when you have paid the premium. Read the exclusions before you need them: wear and tear, unlicensed drivers, vacant homes, pre-existing illness. The wording, not a call-centre summary, decides the claim.

Excess

A fixed excess, a percentage excess, or the greater of the two, comes off the claim. On an illustrative R25 000 loss with a R2 500 excess, you still carry at least R2 500 if the claim is paid in full above that. The excess calculator uses the figures you type. It does not approve a claim.

Complaints

Complain to the insurer first. The National Financial Ombud Scheme and the FAIS Ombud deal with different kinds of disputes. Use the channel that matches the complaint. A page on this site is not that complaint.

Questions readers ask

Does a lower premium mean better value?

Not if the excess is higher, the sum insured is lower, or the exclusions are wider. Compare the schedule.

Related

Sources

Page updated 29 October 2026. A source date is the day WiT Money checked that page, not a promise the institution has not changed it since.