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Income Protection (also known as disability cover) can be divided into two types:

• Temporary Income Protection: Temporary Income Protection will ensure that you are protected against a temporary disability (a disability that lasts less than 24 months). If necessary, it will also help you to survive the permanent disability waiting period.
• Permanent Income Protection: Permanent disability cover will provide you with an income should you become permanently disabled. We believe that permanent disability should be addressed through a combination of monthly income replacement benefits (known as Permanent Income Protection) and a once-off lump sum benefit (known as Capital Disability). This will ensure that you are covered for the different risks associated with a loss of income due to a permanent disability. FMI’s Permanent Income Protection also provides cover for long temporary disabilities (a disability that lasts longer than 24 months but is not permanent).

Our research shows that most of our claims are temporary in nature, lasting less than 3 months. It is much more likely that you will suffer a temporary disability than a permanent one. Above all, even a short-lived disability can have major financial repercussions, especially if you are a small business owner or commission earner.

FMI’s Temporary Income Protection benefit:

• Is designed to provide you with cover:
• From Day 1 for self-employed individual, commission earners, and contractors.
• From Day 14 for salaried employees.
• Can be structured to pay benefits during and after the first six months following the date of a claim (a period during which Capital Disability products generally will not pay out).
• Allows for multiple claims can be made (Capital Disability products do not allow for multiple claims).

We believe that Temporary Income Protection is an essential insurance and that all working individuals should have this cover in place.

In disability, a waiting period is the time from the day you are unable to work due to an injury, illness, or pregnancy until the day your disability benefit pays out. With Temporary Income Protection, you will be paid a monthly benefit for the time that you are disabled. These pay-outs will only begin after the end of your selected waiting period.

Underwriting refers to the process that a financial service provider uses to decide whether a client is eligible to receive their products (i.e. their level of risk is assessed).

FMI clients are underwritten by a team of experienced Underwriters at application stage and not at claims stage. This means that, at claims stage, we do not usually require complicated documents. This greatly reduces frustration and simplifies the claims process. Read more about FMI’s underwriting process.

FMI offers different premium patterns, depending on your needs:

• 5% Escalation: Every year on policy anniversary the amount of cover will remain constant while premiums will increase by 5% 
• Level Premiums: For a selected amount of cover, the premium is fixed for the life of the policy.
• Age Rated: Every year on the policy anniversary, the premium changes to reflect the probability of claim at that age.

A client may elect at the start of cover to choose a pre-claim benefit of 0%, 5%, 7,5%, or 10%. This means that should the client have opted for this escalation, their cover will escalate annually by the amount chosen. This will result in an increase in premium.

while unable to work. FMI does not aggregate on our Temporary Income Protection and Business Overhead Protection benefits at claims stage but does aggregate on Permanent Income Protection and Capital Disability benefits.

FMI’s Temporary Income Protection benefit can pay for a maximum of two years which means that you could claim for two years before having your claim pay-out aggregated.

No, FMI do not accept cash premiums.

Notify FMI by contacting FMI’s Client Care team on 0860 10 11 19 or [email protected]. They will send you the relevant claims forms. To learn more about the claims process, visit our Claims page.

In the case of a claim, your policy will cease when the maximum benefit term is reached. The maximum period we pay out for the benefit is shown on the policy schedule (either 6, 12, or 24 months). However, pay-outs may stop before the maximum period is up as the benefit will pay out only until the first of these events takes place:

Temporary Income Protection:

• The client's full recovery
• The day we consider the client able to go back to their own occupation
• The client's death
• The policy anniversary following the client's chosen retirement age or at the expiry of the term of the policy, whichever is the earlier
• The end date of this benefit
• Notification from the client to cancel the policy

The terms and conditions of the policy will prevail

Permanent Income Protection:

• The date the client is fully recovered
• The date the client are able to work in their own occupation or any suited occupation they can be expected to do because of training, skills or experience
• The client's death
• The policy anniversary following the client's chosen retirement age
• The end date of this benefit

The terms and conditions of the policy will prevail.

To change your banking details, please complete the following form and return it to FMI Client Care via [email protected] or fax (031) 502 7006. Please note that these changes will only be effective as of the following debit order date from the date requested.

PDFs:

• Change of banking details

On BPE, you have the option to freeze your premiums and cover for a period of time and then to re-instate that cover without medical and financial underwriting. To freeze your policy, please contact FMI Client Care on 086 010 119 or [email protected]

FMI offer three options of commission payments to financial advisers:

• As-and-When Commission: Commission is calculated as a percentage of monthly premium and is payable monthly in arrears for each collected premium, for the life of the policy.
• Annualised Commission: Primary Commission is calculated up-front at the start of the policy, based on Life Commission calculations, and is paid as a lump sum payment upon first premium collection. Secondary commission is calculated as a third of Primary commission and is payable as a lump sum upon the 13th premium collection.
• Monthly Commission: Primary Commission is calculated up-front at the start of the policy, based on Life Commission calculations, but is paid over a 12-month period, beginning from first premium collection. Secondary commission is calculated as a third of Primary commission and is payable over 12 months beginning from the 13th premium collection.

Left hand side status headings

Applications Received

Applications received by FMI for processing

Missing Information

FMI requires further client information in order to proceed

Awaiting Tele-UW

Application has been submitted for tele-underwriting, client to expect a call

UW Setting Requirements

client information being reviewed by underwriting

Awaiting Requirements

FMI requires further client information in order to proceed

UW Decision Pending

Underwriting is considering all client information in order to make a decision

Counter Offer Letter

FMI has issued a counter offer letter to client and is waiting for a response in order to proceed

Completed Recently

Applications completed in the last 30 days which may have been either accepted or declined

Right hand side information table (scroll down to view on smaller mobile devices)

Applications in progress

Total number of applications submitted by not yet finalised

Premium

Total premium relating to all new applications

Potential commission

Potential commission to be earned from new applications not yet finalised

Left hand side status headings

Claims Lodged

Number of claims received by FMI currently, but no further action as yet

Requirements Requested

FMI is waiting on certain requirements from the client

Assessment

All information has been received and FMI is currently assessing the claim

Decision Issued

A decision has been made on the claim

In Payment

Claim is currently in payment

Review

Current claim is being reviewed

Closed

Claim has reached the end of its benefit term or client has returned to work

Right hand side information table (scroll down to view on smaller mobile devices)

Claims pending

Total number of claims currently in process but not yet in payment

Claims in payment

Total Rand value of all claims currently in payment

Total claims paid

Total number of claims ever paid for all clients of a particular adviser

Clients paid

Total number of clients ever paid of a particular adviser

No. of claims

Total number of claims ever paid of all of a particular adviser’s clients