What is underwriting?

Underwriting is a process which insurance companies use to estimate how healthy people are when they buy insurance. We ask you some medical questions so that we can determine a few things. We need to know if we can actually offer you insurance, then we work out which types of insurance we can offer you, and finally what the price of the insurance will be.

Underwriting is done to determine 1 of 3 outcomes: 

1. We’re comfortable with your health and you’ll get the lowest premium we can give.

2. There are some things that might make you an increased risk (e.g. if you’re already suffering from a serious illness), so we charge you more, or exclude certain things, meaning you can’t claim for something you already have. 

3. In extreme cases, we may not even be able to insure certain people. For example, someone with a terminal disease would usually not be able to buy insurance because they are certain to claim very soon, meaning that the premium would have to be VERY high.

Who is the underwriter of my policy?

Sanlam Life is the underwriter. And those guys know what they're doing, so you know your claim is in good hands.

Does Sanlam Indie underwrite at claims stage?

Nope. You’re fully covered when we issue your policy. When you claim, like all insurance companies, all that is needed is to make sure your claim is valid based on the answers you provided us when you applied for your policy.