According to Stats SA’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, more than 6% of working South Africans are employed as Domestic Workers*, and more people are employed in private households than in the mining and agriculture sectors combined. If dependents of these workers are included, then as many as four to five million people are supported by this industry.

However, up until recently there haven’t been many options for the average South African domestic worker to access simple, good value life insurance. There are a number of insurance companies targeting low income customers, but the products are often limited to funeral cover only. Given the financial challenges many domestic workers face, they also often struggle to keep up with payments, so in many cases their cover lapses and isn’t in place when it’s needed.

Insurtech player Simply Financial Services (Simply) has introduced a new life insurance bundle called Domestic Cover which is aimed specifically at employers of domestic employees.  The product, which comprises life, disability and funeral cover, is affordable, easy to understand and strong on accessibility. Its also completely flexible, with the customer able to customise the bundle to suit their needs and budget. The policies are underwritten by Old Mutual Alternative Risk Transfer Limited, an insurer in the Old Mutual group – so customers can be safe in the knowledge that valid claims will be honoured.

“Simply’s aim is to provide easy-to-understand, affordable and accessible life insurance for the mass market in South Africa, and thereby contribute to a significant new level of financial security to people in this segment,” said Anthony Miller, CEO of Simply Financial Services.

“Life tends to be risky and uncertain for domestic workers and their families.  When a breadwinner becomes disabled and possibly even dies, the families are left without significant savings and with large funeral bills to pay.

“If you add societal risks such as taxi accidents and random violence for the workers who often travel large distances to and from work, the level of risk facing this sector becomes apparent,” Miller said.

“The bottom line is that the worker’s dependents are very often consigned to poverty in the event of death or disability,” he said. “Their employers may feel obliged to provide financial assistance in these situations”.

By using technology and an innovative operating model, Simply products are able to deliver great value. For example, a 30-year-old woman earning R4 500 a month gets R100 000 life cover, R150 000 disability cover and R15 000 family funeral cover (which covers the insured person, the spouse and up to five children) for R92 per month.

And by putting the responsibility for paying the premium on the employer, the risk of cover being cancelled due to lack of payment is greatly reduced, meaning the cover will be there when needed. If the domestic worker moves on, they can choose to take over the payment of the premium on the same terms, or they can ask their new employer to take over the policy.

As an alternative Simply also offers a Family Cover product with similar benefits and costs, but where instead the employee takes out the cover and is responsible for paying the premium themselves.

Signing up is simple. The entire online process takes less than ten minutes and requires the individual to fill in some personal details and answer three health-related questions.  Should they qualify, cover is immediate.

For the employers of domestic workers in South Africa, this represents a great opportunity to provide a valuable safety net for their staff, many of whom have been loyal employees for decades, without adding significantly to their costs. 

For more information about Simply, go to www.simply.co.za.

*Source: https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/180831/south-africa-has-more-domestic-workers-in-employment-than-professionals/

Recent entrant, selling into SA’s life insurance market, Simply Financial Services has come to stir things up. South Africa’s mass-market life insurance space, which the business defines as people earning up to R30k per month, is extremely competitive with high lapse rates and brutal competition.

The Simply shake up involves a combination of technology smarts, keen pricing and deep life insurance experience, as well as strong industry networks to build a business that can deliver super simple life insurance products at disruptively low prices.

Policies are available for as little as R59 a month, depending on the level of cover selected, and are underwritten by Old Mutual Alternative Risk Transfer Limited, a member of the Old Mutual Group.

Enter the chatbot

Part and parcel of its disruptive intentions has been the introduction of its chatbot. Available since launch, the Simply chatbot (called Sam) has been developed from its quoting engine and allows customers to get a quick quote via Facebook messenger in a matter of seconds. The chatbot has been used for over 600 messages and quotes. People also use the chatbot to ask questions about their policies or ask for callbacks at specific times.

“As a disruptive #fintech company, we love to explore conversational commerce opportunities,” says Anthony Miller, CEO of Simply Financial Services. “We believe in meeting the customer where they are - and Facebook is increasingly that place, where people play, learn, and buy products that they need.”

The Simply chatbot is one of several ways that customers can get in touch – intentionally designed so that people can use the channel that works best for them. Simply’s website, for example, has a live chat functionality, which is well utilised - people ask all sorts of questions here - about the products, company, the details of cover etc.

“While we are not allowed to sell life insurance via Facebook yet, we use our chatbot to demonstrate the incredible value that customers can get - if they click through to our website,” Miller said.

Brand philosophy

“Simply’s chatbot is a continuation of our brand value and company philosophy, to offer easily accessible and affordable life insurance products and to simplify our touch points with our customer,” he added.Meanwhile, Forrester Research in its report “Bots aren’t ready to be Bankers – August 31, 2016”, has cautioned that although chat bots are developing rapidly, customer experience is not, and that many fail to effectively meet users’ needs due to poor infrastructure and lack of fundamental understanding of artificial intelligence or AI.

Miller however remains bullish about the chatbot and its role within the business both now and going forward. “Futurologists reckon we’ll need less of the human touch as we develop algorithms to enable “robo advice” – improving service and reducing fees in the process,” he added. “We believe our value proposition, in terms of the products and the nature of the market we are targeting, is synergistic with the chatbot and the services it can deliver to our customers,” he says.

Simply Financial Services are targeting potential customers in three different ways. These being: Directly to individual breadwinners (Family Cover) – online and call centre Via domestic employers (Domestic Cover) – online and call centre Via SME employers (Business Cover) – online, call centre and independent brokers To date Simply has launched the Family Cover and Domestic Cover products, and is on track to soft launch its Business Cover product later this month.Family Cover is limited to R1.5million life, R1.5m disability and R50k family funeral cover, while Domestic Cover is limited to R200k life, R400k disability and R50k family funeral.

In both cases, policies start from R59 per month. Signing up for Simply products is simple too. The entire online process takes less than 10 minutes, requiring the individual to fill in some personal details, answer three health questions and, should they qualify, capture their beneficiaries. No blood or medical tests are required and cover is instantaneous. Cover is limited to claims caused by accidents for the first six months - standard in similar products with limited pre-screening.  

About Simply Financial Services (Simply)
Simply Financial Services (Simply) is a registered financial services provider that designs and sells great value, simple life insurance products in South Africa. The business was founded by three South Africans: technology entrepreneur Anthony Miller and actuaries Simon Nicholson and Shaun Dippnall, and comprises a lean and agile team of 11 based in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg.Simply products include life, disability and funeral cover – available individually or as a combo – and start from as little as R59 a month, depending on the level of cover selected. Simply products are underwritten by Old Mutual Risk Transfer Ltd (OMART), a member of the Old Mutual Group. More information on http://simply.co.za.

“South Africa’s insurance market is ripe for tech disruption,” says Anthony Miller, CEO of Cape Town-based fin tech startup Simply Financial Services (Pty) Ltd.

Miller, a tech and data entrepreneur, and partners, actuaries Simon Nicholson and Shaun Dippnall, launched Simply just a little over six months ago to apply their industry expertise, in combination with new technologies and data intelligence, to make a social impact in South Africa.

The business aims to secure the financial futures for South Africa’s mass market by selling easy-to-understand, affordable life insurance products (that are up to half the cost of comparable policies on the market) in an industry that writes up R8,5-billion worth of business a year.

“When a bread winner dies in South Africa and many other emerging economies, his or her dependents are often consigned to poverty – that’s the harsh reality many face in our country,” Miller said.

Miller added that South Africans are also often significantly over-insured when it comes to funeral cover – a high proportion of South African adults have at least two funeral policies, many of which are very expensive.

“A large percentage too of the 14 million South African households earning under 30k per month do not currently have life insurance, as many feel it is too expensive and find the sign up process daunting,’ he added.

Simply sells life, disability and funeral insurance “combo’s” designed to meet people’s needs in a way they understand and at a price they can afford. The products are designed for a mobile first environment, understanding that most South Africans do not have access to the Internet other than on their phones, although a significant percentage of sign-ups are done through Simply’s call centre.

Life, disability and funeral combinations

Simply products are life, disability and funeral combos, available for as little as R59 a month, depending on the level of cover selected. Signing up is simple too. The entire online process takes less than 10 minutes, requiring the individual to fill in some personal details, answer three health questions and, should they qualify, receiving immediate cover. No blood or medical tests are required.

Cover is limited to claims caused by accidents for the first six months, which is usually standard in products with limited pre-screening. This ‘waiting period’ is made very clear in all the company’s marketing materials and client documents, so that it is understandable to the policy holder.    

“The value (in financial terms) that these products offer is also substantial. Often, for the price of funeral cover that other companies provide, a full combo of Simply life + disability + funeral products (or whatever the customer chooses) could be provided. A simple comparative quote takes just 10 seconds​,” Miller said. 

Simply has started selling two initial products: Family Combo’s: Life, disability and funeral cover for breadwinners earning between R5 000 and R25 000 a month. Employer Combo’s: Life, disability and funeral cover for employees, paid by their employer. The product is designed for domestic employees, but is also great for small businesses.A similar product is being developed for SMME employers as well and will be formally launched next month.

Technology advantages

Using technology and an innovative operating model helps ensure that Simply products deliver great value and costs are kept to a minimum. For example, a 30-year-old woman earning R4 500 a month gets R100 000 life cover, R150 000 disability cover and R15 000 family funeral cover (covers insured life, spouse and up to five children) for R92 per month. Cover is limited to R1.5million life, R1.5m disability and R50k family funeral in the Family Combo, and R200k life, R400k disability and R50k family funeral in the Employer Combo.

While these combos are offered to suit clients’ needs and pockets, clients are also free to customise their cover by removing one or more benefits, and/or adjusting the amount of cover they want.

By focusing on product design, data-analytics, software development and marketing — and outsourcing ‘commodity’ services to best of breed partners — Simply products aim to materially reduce the cost and complexity of mass-market life insurance and pass the cost benefits onto the customer. 

Cutting the middle man 

“South Africans are increasingly comfortable with buying online and confident about making their own choices, without the presence or influence of a broker,” Miller said. 

“Simply allows customers to cut out the middle man and buy an affordable policy for themselves online, in under five minutes,” he added. 

Simply policies are underwritten by Old Mutual Alternative Risk Transfer Limited and reinsured by RGA Reinsurance Company of South Africa Limited.

In line with its focus on social impact and concern for financial sustainability among its customers, Simply has introduced a programme called #SimplyMoney, which provides free financial education and money management tips.For more information about Simply, go to www.simply.co.za. For further information or to interview one of the partners, call Anthony Miller on 0823525655