Short-term insurer and financial services provider MiWay has announced that it will give over R25 million in premium income back to its clients during April as a result of the twenty-one-day lockdown declared by President Cyril Ramaphosa to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Most South Africans will be staying and working from home for the next few weeks and most businesses will not be running at full capacity, following the sweeping measures put in place by Government to tackle the pandemic. This means there will be far less traffic on our roads, thus reducing the risk of car accidents.
MiWay CEO René Otto says, “As South Africa heeds the call to #stayathome for the next few weeks, we want to make this time just a little easier for our clients. We follow a scientific approach to risk rating. When clients work from home, they drive less. This reduces the risk of them being involved in an accident. At MiWay, we believe the right thing to do is to reduce their premiums given the reduction in risk.”
There have been growing calls for companies to do more to help consumers stay afloat and soften the economic impact of COVID-19.
“We must all do what we can, in our personal as well as corporate capacities, to limit the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the lives of ordinary South Africans. This is not only a health crisis, but also a humanitarian and economic crisis. If we stand together and fight the pandemic from every possible angle, we will emerge stronger and more united as a nation,” says Otto.
MiWay will automatically apply the premium reduction to April debit orders on its personal lines and business insurance clients. This means clients will automatically enjoy the benefit of an average 10% reduction in their car insurance premiums during the month of April.
“In these tough times, it’s important that we still give expression to our brand promise to go out of our way to enable our clients to live their way, whilst simultaneously complying with our corporate and patriotic responsibility to help fight COVID-19. To us, it’s not just about selling policies, it’s about helping people,” says Otto.
