Work commences on Short Term Insurance in South Africa 2018

I have once again teamed up with Liz Still – author of the popular ‘Healthcare in South Africa’ guide – to refresh and rewrite our comprehensive overview of South Africa’s short term insurance industry.

‘Short Term Insurance in South Africa 2018’ is a compelling read that tracks market share among short term insurers; demystifies competition in the short term insurance broker space; and lays bare the fundamentals of insurance to name a few. You will find everything you ever wanted to know about short term insurance in its pages. Some of the exciting additions for 2018 are:

• An extensive review of the three chapters covering the short term insurance regulatory environment;
• A new chapter on Insure-tech, in acknowledgement of the new products and competitors enabled by technology;
• A new chapter on Risk pooling fundamentals, which will attempt a critical evaluation of risk pooling theory in short-term insurance, including an assessment of how the principle is applied in SA; and
• A new chapter on Ombudsman case studies, to include a selection of the best Ombudsman cases over the past five years and the lessons learned.

An invitation to industry to support this worthwhile project

The book makes an important contribution to education, knowledge and skills development in the short-term insurance sector and as such is a project worthy of broad industry support. I therefore appeal to decision makers at SA’s leading insurance brands to pledge support to the project by way of advertising (click here).

Potential sponsors can find more information at the Short Term Insurance in South Africa website. I am happy to confirm that the following brands have already confirmed their participation in 2018:

Aon; Auto &General; Discovery Insure and Hollard

A brief overview of Short Term Insurance in South Africa

In its opening chapters the authors take a look at the basic building blocks of this important sector by discussing topics such as insurance fundamentals and the business case for insurance. Readers will be pleasantly surprised to learn about the many ‘behind the scenes’ workings of an industry that they tend to take for granted.

The real ‘meat’ of the book is contained in the chapters that discuss the types of insurers and their functions; take a closer look at the South African short term insurance landscape; and explain the different types of short term insurance cover. The short term industry is discussed in such detail that Frans Nel, MD EMEA at Value-Ad, suggests the book be renamed: ‘All you ever wanted to know about short term insurance in South Africa’.

Whether you are a seasoned insurance professional or a young intern, you will find tremendous value in its pages – the subject matter is dealt with in language that is easy to understand, and is written in a way that keeps the topic interesting.

Our first publication was incredibly well received

We launched the first edition of the book at the Insurance Conference 2016. Since then the book has received excellent feedback from a number of respected industry stakeholders. Carel Nolté, Founder of CN&CO was notably impressed:

“Congratulations on your book, which I have just finished reading. I was expecting it to be OK and am blown away by how good it is. Informative, well-written, interesting and covers a broad range of topics – most useful.”

There is broad consensus that the book will be useful to many ‘readers’ in the financial services sector and that it is a ‘must have’ for anyone working in the short term insurance sector. According to David Harpur, past CEO at IISA:

“The book is a valuable addition to the insurance market, not only for those who spend most of their lives working in the industry, but also for those who want to get a better understanding of how the market operates; who the key players are and how the industry is regulated.”

The 2018 launch

Short Term Insurance in South Africa 2018 will be launched at the annual insurance conference at Sun City towards the end July of this year. I look forward to sharing the fruits of many hours of hard work with colleagues, friends and peers throughout the insurance industry.