Updated · General information, not advice · TitanDC
Short-term insurance
As used on our short-term insurance page.
- All risks
- Cover for items you carry with you or use away from home, such as phones, laptops, cameras and jewellery, against loss, theft and accidental damage. Despite the name, exclusions, limits and conditions apply.
- Contractors all risks
- Insurance for building and construction work, covering the works, materials and site equipment while a project is under way.
- Fidelity
- Protects a business against financial loss caused by the dishonesty of its own employees, such as theft or fraud.
- Marine
- Despite the name, mostly about goods in transit: cover for stock and equipment while being transported by road, sea or air, as well as boats and cargo.
- Liability covers
- Cover for amounts you become legally liable to pay to other people for injury or damage, including public, products and employers’ liability.
- Indemnity cover
- Insurance that puts you back in the position you were in before a loss. Professional indemnity specifically covers claims arising from advice or services you provide.
- Engineering
- Cover for plant, machinery, electronic equipment and breakdown risks that a standard fire policy excludes.
- Sasria
- Cover for riot, strike, civil commotion, public disorder and terrorism, provided through the state-owned insurer Sasria and usually added alongside your main policy.
- Excess
- The first amount of any claim that you pay yourself. Policies can carry different excesses for different types of claim.
- Sum insured
- The amount an item or building is insured for. It should reflect what it would cost to replace today, not what you paid.
- Business interruption
- Cover for lost income and continuing costs while a business cannot operate after an insured event.
- Personal legal liability
- Cover if you are held legally responsible for injury to someone or damage to their property in your private capacity.
Body corporate and sectional title
As used on our body corporate and sectional title page.
- Body corporate
- The legal entity made up of all owners in a sectional title scheme. Trustees act on its behalf.
- Sectional title
- A form of ownership where you own a section, such as a flat or unit, and share the common property with other owners.
- Common property
- Everything in a scheme that is not part of a section: driveways, gardens, roofs, external walls, lifts and shared pipes.
- Home owners’ association
- A body that manages shared roads, security and facilities in an estate of freehold homes. Its insurance needs differ from a body corporate.
- Property owners combined
- A single policy that brings together buildings, contents, liability and loss of rent for a commercial or residential property.
- Replacement value
- What it would cost to demolish and rebuild the buildings today, including professional fees and VAT. Not the market value.
- Loss of rent
- Cover for rental income lost while a damaged property cannot be occupied.
- Fidelity insurance
- Cover against dishonesty by trustees, managing agents or employees handling the scheme’s money.
- Trustees’ indemnity
- Cover for trustees and directors against claims arising from decisions made in their role.
- Exclusive-use area
- Part of the common property, such as a parking bay or garden, that one owner has the right to use.
Life cover
As used on our life cover page.
- Life cover
- A lump sum paid to your nominated beneficiaries or estate when you die.
- Beneficiary
- The person or people you nominate to receive a benefit. A nomination on a policy is separate from your will.
- Critical illness benefit
- A lump sum paid when a listed condition such as cancer, heart attack or stroke meets the policy’s definition and severity level, to help with treatment and living costs.
- Disability benefit
- A lump sum paid if you meet the policy’s definition of permanent disability.
- Income protection
- A monthly payment that replaces part of your income while you are unable to work through illness or injury.
- Impairment benefit
- A payment linked to the severity of a loss of function, whether or not you can still work.
- Underwriting
- The insurer’s assessment of your health, occupation and lifestyle before it agrees to cover you and at what premium.
- Waiting period
- A period after the policy starts, or after a claim event, before a benefit becomes payable.
- Buy-and-sell agreement
- A contract between business partners to buy the deceased or disabled partner’s share, usually funded by life cover.
Investments
As used on our investments page.
- Unit trust
- A pooled fund that invests in shares, bonds, property or cash on behalf of many investors. You own units in the fund.
- Retirement annuity
- A personal retirement fund with contributions that are tax-deductible within limits. Retirement from it is generally possible from age 55; under the two-pot system, limited withdrawals from the savings component are possible before then.
- Tax-free investment
- A savings account or fund where growth and withdrawals are tax free, within annual and lifetime contribution limits set in tax law.
- Endowment
- An investment policy with a minimum restricted period, usually five years, often used by investors in higher tax brackets or for estate planning.
- Living annuity
- A retirement income product where you choose the investments and draw an income within limits.
- Guaranteed annuity
- A retirement income product that pays a guaranteed income for life in exchange for your capital. The income can be level or escalate, depending on the option chosen.
- Income fund
- A fund built to pay regular income rather than to maximise growth.
- Asset allocation
- The mix of shares, bonds, property and cash in a portfolio. It drives most of the risk and return.
- Volatility
- How much an investment’s value moves up and down over time.
- Offshore investing
- Holding assets outside South Africa to diversify currency and market exposure, either directly using your annual allowances or through rand-denominated funds that invest offshore.
Medical aid and gap cover
As used on our medical aid and gap cover page.
- Medical scheme
- A registered, not-for-profit fund that pays members’ healthcare costs. “Medical aid” is the everyday term for membership.
- Hospital plan
- A medical scheme option that covers in-hospital treatment but little or no day-to-day care. A hospital cash insurance policy is a different product.
- Comprehensive plan
- A plan that adds day-to-day benefits, often through a medical savings account.
- Medical savings account
- A portion of your contribution set aside for day-to-day expenses such as GP visits and medicine.
- Gap cover
- Insurance that pays the difference between what a specialist charges and what your scheme pays, within limits.
- Co-payment
- An amount you pay towards a procedure, scan or medicine, set as a fixed sum or a percentage.
- Scheme rate
- The amount your scheme will pay for a service. Specialists can charge several times this rate.
- Prescribed minimum benefits
- A set of conditions and treatments every scheme must cover in full, regardless of plan, generally when you use its designated providers and treatment protocols.
- Designated service provider
- A hospital, doctor or pharmacy your scheme requires you to use to avoid co-payments.
- Late-joiner penalty
- A loading on contributions that a scheme may apply to people who join at 35 or older without enough previous scheme membership to their credit. It is capped by regulation and does not expire.
Estate planning
As used on our estate planning page.
- Estate
- Everything you own and owe at death, dealt with by an executor before it passes to your heirs.
- Executor
- The person or institution appointed to wind up your estate. Executor’s fees follow a prescribed tariff, unless the will fixes them, and are charged on the gross value of the assets.
- Estate duty
- A tax on estates above the abatement, currently R3.5 million, charged at 20% and 25% above a higher threshold.
- Liquidity
- Cash available in the estate to pay fees, taxes and debts without selling assets.
- Intestate
- Dying without a valid will. The Intestate Succession Act then decides who inherits.
- Trust
- A structure that holds assets for beneficiaries, managed by trustees under a trust deed.
- Beneficiary nomination
- The person named on a policy or retirement fund to receive the benefit. On a life policy it decides, ahead of the will; on a retirement fund it guides the trustees, who must provide for your dependants.
- Guardian’s Fund
- A government fund that holds money for minors and others who cannot manage it themselves.
- Capital gains tax on death
- Death is treated as a disposal of your assets, which can trigger capital gains tax payable by the estate.
Sources
This page cites the legislation and regulators it relies on, so you can check it.
This page is general information, not financial advice. Cover, benefits, limits and exclusions depend on the product and the provider. Speak to an adviser about your circumstances.