Buy funeral cover via Telkom airtime

 

Telkom, the country’s biggest fixed-line telephone group, plans to offer the Sim-Sonke and Telkom More prepaid plans users R10 000 funeral cover by simply recharging with R100 or more airtime. By Gugu Lourie

The firm, which owns Telkom Mobile, has partnered with Africa’s biggest insurer Old Mutual, which would underwrite the cover valued at R10 000 at no additional costs for the telephone group subscribers on the Sim-Sonke and Telkom More prepaid plans.

This innovative solution has been developed by Telkom as a loyalty funeral cover for prepaid users.

Telkom said  customers on the Sim-Sonke and Telkom More prepaid plans will qualify for the R10 000 funeral cover by simply recharging with R100 or more airtime, through single or multiple recharges amounting to R100 in one calendar month, opting in and nominating a beneficiary.

The loyalty funeral cover will start at the beginning of the following month and will be valid until the end of that particular month.

Old Mutual has developed an innovative micro-insurance voucher system that will underpin this solution, enabling customers to opt-in, nominate and manage a beneficiary, track their loyalty funeral cover and even submit a death claim using the Old Mutual App or USSD.

“This innovative offer is a South African first. While competitors may offer paid premium insurance to their customers, Telkom will be rewarding customers for their airtime spend with funeral cover at no additional cost from one of the leading insurers in the country, Old Mutual,” explains Telkom CEO, Mr Sipho Maseko.

Qualifying customers will be required to opt-in for the funeral cover. Their personal details, as well as a nominated beneficiary will be captured, and the customer will then be eligible for the cover for as long as they maintain a monthly airtime spend of R100.

In the event that customers fall short of the R100 airtime spend for a particular calendar month, they will not be eligible for the funeral cover during the following month.  Once the required spend is met again, cover will be reinstated for the subsequent calendar month.

Sim-Sonke is a prepaid package that enables customers recharge with R5 to R19 and get 1 night of unlimited calls to Telkom Mobile number (7pm – 7am) and recharge with R20 and up and get 7 nights of unlimited calls to Telkom mobile numbers (7pm – 7am), etc.

Telkom joins Vodacom, which announced in June 2015 its plans to scale up its niche funeral and life insurance business.

The mobile phone operator, which is 65%-owned by British mobile giant Vodafone, provides life and funeral insurance.

The total insurance market in SA is worth approximately R61 billion.

“Our focus has mainly been on device insurance, but we intend to scale up our funeral and life insurance business,”Vodacom said in its latest annual report.

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