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Long Term Insurance Act, 1998 (Act No. 52 of 1998)

Rules

Policyholder Protection Rules (Long-term Insurance), 2017

Chapter 3 : Products

Rule 4 : Cooling-off rights

 

4.1 For purposes of this rule a reference to the "variation" of a policy or a "varied" policy only includes a variation requested or initiated by the policyholder.

 

4.2 A policyholder may—
(a) in any case where  no benefit has yet been paid or claimed or an event insured against has not yet occurred; and
(b) within a period of 31 days after the date of receipt of the information contemplated in rule 11.5, or a reasonable date on which it can be deemed that the policyholder received that information,

cancel a policy entered into with an insurer or any variation of such policy, excluding any policy or variation that has a duration of 31 days or less, by way of a cancellation notice to the insurer.

[Rule 4.2 substituted by rule 6(d) of Notice No. 997, GG 41928, dated 28 September 2018]

 

4.3 All premiums or moneys paid by the policyholder to the insurer up to the date of receipt of the cancellation notice referred to in rule 4.2 or received at any date thereafter in respect of the cancelled or varied policy, must be refunded to the policyholder, subject to the deduction of—
(a) the cost of any risk cover actually enjoyed; and
(b) any market loss where  the market value of the investments made has decreased in the intervening period due to prevailing market conditions.

 

4.4 An insurer must comply with the request for cancellation received from a policyholder in accordance with rule 4.2 no later than 31 days after the insurer receives the cancellation notice.

 

4.5 Where a policy can in law not be cancelled, or is by virtue of its terms and nature not capable of being cancelled, such fact must be disclosed to the policyholder by the intermediary involved or the insurer before entering into the policy.

 

4.6 An insurer must ensure that, where the policyholder is a group scheme in which member participation is voluntary, the policy places an obligation on that policyholder to afford every member of the group scheme a right to end participation in the group scheme equal to the right afforded to a policyholder to cancel a policy in accordance with rules 4.2 and 4.3.

 

4.7 This rule only applies to new policies and variations of existing policies.