According to the information released on Tuesday in Johannesburg by the Life Offices Association (LOA) From 1st April the insurance companies will be obliged to pay out life insurance and funeral claims to relatives of people who die of Aids-related diseases.
Insurance companies that are members of LOA will not apply the HIV/Aids exclusion clause to life and disability policies an more.
The exclusion clause meant that no claims were paid out if an individual with a life policy died of Aids, no matter if their premiums were current.
The chief executive officer of LOA, Gerhard Joubert, stated that even though this was not obligatory, eac LOA member had agreed to waive the exclusion.
LOA accounts for 95 per cent of the most important insurance companies in South Africa.
Claims won’t be denied
"Any claim for a lump sum death or disability benefit will not be denied by life companies based on the HIV/Aids status of the insured individual, unless the policy owner is charged guilty of material non-disclosure," he explained.
The exclusion clause will be waived for each type of life and disability cover payin lump sum benefits, together with group life, credit life and funeral cover.
Fatima Hassan from the Aids Law Project informed that the announcement by LOA was "absolutely groundbreaking", one of the largest moves the life industry had ever made.
"Perhaps this will decrease the socio-economic influence on families losing a breadwinner to Aids," she explained.
