Hi,
I've copied and pasted this off an email that I received today. Hope it helps. As with most things... The more that are involved, the less it SHOULD cost.
Tailwinds,
Pitch&Fan
I have been dealing with pilots on S.A.A, Airlink Mango and Comm Air, and this is what I specialize in, as well as an overall financial review for the guys. I am aware that you do have Loss of License cover through SAAPA, and it is under review currently, however the soonest it will be looked at is June next year. I am been talking to Johan Koetzer with respect to this, and they appear to be very interested in the Discovery Product.
. I have attached a quote for you in light of the type of coverage that I am looking at giving pilots. This can be altered to any figure that you want. If you recall, you do have loss of license cover through the Company, and this is with Liberty Life, this however, only covers you for 1 million rands worth, and decreases in cover as you get older, ceasing at age 60. This cover also only covers you for a permanent disability, i.e. permanent loss of license, and not for a temporary one. Bearing in mind, that in the event of an injury, whether it be a car accident, a broken ankle etc, this all affects your flying career.
If I look more closely at the coverage that Liberty has for the pilots you need to be aware of a few exclusions with Liberty that they do not pay out on, this includes things such as:
1. you have to lose the sight in both eyes before a payment is made,
2. you have to lose the use of your dominant hand before a payment is made, not just one hand, both feet etc.
3. They do not cover for temporary injuries, only permanent, which means that you have been completely disabled before a payment will be made.
4. They also reduce their cover from the age of 55 onwards, at the time that you need the cover most, this is optional though.
5. It is based on a permanent injury; therefore temporary injuries would not qualify for a payment.
6. There is a three month waiting period, this is to establish permanence, which can be waived if it is evident that the client may not recover, and Discovery has no waiting period. Some may argue that in Congestive Heart Failure, that the client has to wait 6 months, however, by the time the client is aware of the problem, the 6 months has already lapsed anyway, i.e. before the problem presents itself, and he claims anyway, and is paid.
Examples of this is the following:
· Loss of Hearing- Liberty pays out 50%, Discovery pays out 100%
· Loss of Speech, Liberty pays out 75%, and Discovery pays out 100%
· Facial Disfigurement, Liberty pays out 25%, Discovery pays out 100%
I am sure that you would agree that loss of speech or hearing as a pilot, is grounds for immediate Loss of your License, and hence a 100% payment to you from Discovery.
If I look at the Muscular Skeletal system, Liberty only pays out 100% on Quadriplegia, and back problems are the fastest number of claims coming into Insurance companies, Liberty also does not look at Cancer under it’s physical Impairment Benefit.
Discovery on the other hand has taken the criteria and based their payments 100% on a medical injury, taking into consideration that you are a pilot, and the slightest injury can affect your ability to fly, from something minor to a major injury; we pay out on all body systems and anything that might affect it, such as whip lash, up to a heart attack.
We recognize the fact that things such as loss of hearing, or sight, or any slight injury can affect your ability to fly, and we cover this.
Bearing in mind that you do have income replacement with company, which will cover your monthly income at 75% of Gross salary, we are looking at paying you a lump sum amount.
Discovery does not taper their benefit- i.e. reduce as you get older.
They also cover for permanent and temporary injuries.
Most importantly, Discovery Life does NOT aggregate their claims, where Liberty does, i.e. Liberty will see of you have claimed from another Insurance Company, and if you have for example with Discovery, and we have paid you, then Liberty will NOT pay out
If I go deeper into the type of coverage that Liberty offers you as a client….
The majority of claims coming in at the moment from the Pilots are Heart attacks.
Discovery covers you for a Non Q Wave Infract Heart Attacks- i.e. where there is no change in the ECG, which accounts for 20 to 50% of all hearts attacks that occur, Liberty does not cover for these at all, in fact a colleague of yours has had a had heart attack within the last 24 months, and Liberty has not paid, whereas Discovery has paid.
Liberty does not cover any strokes that might affect the Eyes, Optic Nerves or Vestibular Functions
· If I look at this closer, and there is a loss of Speech, Discovery will pay out 100%; Liberty does not pay out at all
· Complete Deafness, Discovery pays out 100%., and Liberty only 75%
· Paraplegia, Discovery pays out 100%, and Liberty only pays out 75%.
Some of the other conditions that are excluded by Liberty are the following:
· Arterial Fibrillation- which is the main reason that Pace makers and defibrillation in heart attacks happens
· Stage 1 Hodkins disease
· Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
· Approximately 35% of all benign Brain Tumors, as spinal tumors and Piturity Adenomas are excluded.
· The entire Endocrine System is not covered
There is a 14 day survival period on Liberty before they will pay you, Discovery pays immediately and if death should occur, then both the dread disease and the death cover pays out. If death should occur during the 14 day survival period with Liberty, only the Death Cover pays out,
Lokking at it simply, you will have lost your license 99.9% because of a medical injury.
Discovery has taken an underwriter that used to work at C.A.A, and he has spoken to Doctor Gobbler, Buys etc, in order to determine the stats in terms of why and how do pilots lose their license, and Discovery has structured their product around this.
Discovery covers all of your body systems, i.e. Nervous system, Muscular Skeletal, heart and artery , ear nose and throat etc, and in the event of there being an injury to any of your body systems, Discovery Covers you
. There is no waiting period, and it covers temporary as well as permanent injuries. You must also note that you are on Discovery Health, therefore we know exactly what sort of risk you present to the company, because we already have your health claims, therefore we are able to give you the cover at a cheaper premium, and at the same time, refund you a portion of the premium back into your account, this depends on your Vitality status as well as In Hospital claims
A lot of the guys have raised the concern about Diabetes, High cholesterol High blood pressure and strokes, this is all covered by Discovery. Remembering that even if you lose consciousness for more than 30 seconds, you will lose your license for up to three years, Discovery covers this.
The reason that I am so heavily involved in this is because my other half is a pilot, and I was involved in the structure of covering the guys for loss of license. Remember that at SAA, they will pay you a monthly salary; I am looking at covering on a lump sum side, in case the injury takes longer than expected for you to recover from.
Wayne, if you have any questions, please feel free to give me a shout?
Have a great day
Regards
Joanne Pickard
Financial Consultant
DFC JHB North
DISCOVERY
Office: 011 234 2441
Cell: 083 357 3189
Fax: 011 803 1284
E-mail:
[email protected]