How to buy Life Insurance in 20 minutes flat

You’re probably not going to believe what we’re going to say next…

At Different Life we think our life insurance platform is the best thing since sliced cheese. The problem is - you might not agree. So what better way is there to test, than to see how long it takes someone to come out the other end of the machine?

We advertise that it can be done in less than 15 minutes. It took our highly professional tester a little longer than that, 20 minutes or so. Okay, he wasn’t that professional – a friend of a friend of ours, you get the picture?

But nevertheless, our challenge to you is: “Do you think you can do better?” Give it a bash yourself. We’re even going to make it easier for you by giving a sneak peak of what to expect as you go from screen to screen.

Talk about an unfair advantage!

Before we go on…at Different Life we wish to avoid lawsuits with our clients. You’ll notice that our website address is secure since it has the HTTPS in the address bar. So relax, your information is safe in our hands.

Get Covered

So on the top of our site there’s a button saying Get Covered. When you click on that it shows the following:

1 – Quick Quote

Here’s what you’ll see.

Age
Income
Education (clicking here brings up a drop down menu)
Smoker, and
Gender

Below this is the Start Sales Process button. Hit this to bring up the following screen:

Choose between cover and premium. If you have a budget and want to spend an exact amount, then select premium.
Adjust the slider from left to right to increase either the cover or the cost. The slider defaults to the centre and you can see how much cover it is by looking at the top of the block.
The cover moves in multiples of R100, 000 while premium moves in multiples of R5
Then it asks for name, email address, and cell number

Below that is the Continue button. Do your thing!

A screen then pops up – Important information about Different Life:

What to expect. Tells you that the whole process is electronic with no paperwork. Click OK
Authorised financial services provider. They have permission to market life insurance which is important. Click OK
May we store, process, and share your information? Click YES or else the buck stops here. We need your permission to share information with our partners.

Click the Continue button.

2 – Personal

This is where we get personal with you.

South African ID number is required
Your title has a dropdown menu with a variety of options from which to choose
First name is pre-populated (Thank you Different Life!)
Last name (We’re not that psychic yet, but we’re working on it)
Cell number is pre-populated but you can change it here
Known as. In case you want to use a nickname
Email address is also pre-populated but can be changed
Residential suburb. This has a drop down menu but it’s best to type in your full suburb details

Hit the Continue to Lifestyle button below this.

A screen pops up with: Please note the following.

We don’t give financial advice! We only provide information about our product. Wherever there’s a pitfall you need to know of, we’ll make you aware of this, so don’t worry. Click OK.
Are you buying this policy for yourself? We ask this because only the person whose life is being insured can answer. Click YES
South African Permanent Residents. Only people permanently resident here can apply. In other words, if you’re a South African citizen working abroad, you can’t apply. Click YES
Paying claims is our core business. You have to agree to answer all questions honestly since we could reject a future claim if any of the information is inaccurate. Click OK

Click the Continue button below.

3 – Lifestyle

Now we get really personal.

Please select your marital status. Pick your preference from the drop down menu
Confirm highest level of education. Choose your level from the drop down.
Weight (in kilograms). If you tick ‘no idea’ we ask for your shirt size from a drop down menu – don’t ask why.
Height (in metres). If you tick ‘no idea’ we ask you to describe your height by selecting from a drop down menu.
Confirm smoker status. We consider you to be a smoker if you’ve done so in the past 12 months.
Alcohol consumption (weekly). Our drop down menu has a list of options. One drink is one beer, one tot of spirits, or one glass of wine.
Have you been prescribed treatment for alcohol or drug abuse? This can be medication, counselling, or rehabilitation.

Below that is a Continue to Financial button. Click on it

Confirm monthly income. Monthly Income before any deductions
Monthly household income. If your spouse earns income or if there is any other form of income, include it here along with your monthly income. In other words, this shouldn’t be less that your monthly income.
When do you get paid? Hopefully this happens regularly for you, so select your preferred debit order day.
Primary occupation. We have a convenient drop down menu. A word of advice: You’re not going to find your job title there. Instead we need your job description. Client fan club officer isn’t there but Public relations officer is.
Medical aid. Select your option. If you answer yes, we’d like to know which one. Don’t worry, there’s a drop down menu.
Existing life insurance policy. If you own a policy in your own name then select yes. We’ll want to know for how much you already own just to make sure you’re not overinsuring yourself.
Insurance cover refused. Has anyone previously rejected your application? Choose YES or No
Special terms and conditions. Three options to choose from.

Below that is the Continue to Travel button. Use it.

Will you be travelling outside of South Africa in the next twelve months? If you answer yes we will want to know whether this will be for more than 30 days one after the other. If you answer yes, then we would appreciate knowing to which regions. If you’re a mercenary heading for the Middle East it could raise a few red flags with us.

Click on the Continue to Recreation button

Which of the following risky activities do you participate in? Choose your poison from the drop down menu. If none, then scroll right down to the bottom and select ‘I don’t participate in any of these activities.’

Click on the Continue to Medical button below this.

A pop up screen will appear with a list of countries where we won’t cover you in the event of a claim. Click OK if you still wish to proceed with your quotation.

Click on the Continue button

Another pop up screen appears with: May we access your medical records? Select YES and then the Continue button below that.

4 – Medical

We start off by asking about five major conditions:

Cancer or Tumour
Heart Attack
Heart angioplasty (Stent)
Heart bypass, and
Stroke

If you select ‘None’ then you’re welcome to move on to the questions below. If you have suffered from any of the five major conditions, simply click on it. Only one of them requires further information:

Cancer

The system asks ‘Which cancer?’ There’s a drop down menu with a list. Choose the relevant one.

Then we get to four medical questions which have the subheading: “Apart from the conditions already mentioned; in the last 5 years have you”

Been admitted overnight to a hospital or had a day procedure? If you say yes the system offers a pop-up window asking for the name of the procedure. You can add more than one. If you made a mistake click on the big X in the top right.
Been referred to a specialist or sent for investigations or tests? Same situation as above
Been on any treatment for a month or longer? Same pop-up window appears with a list. To make the pop-up disappear, click on the X in the top right hand corner.
Required ongoing follow-up by a doctor or clinic? Same appears as we’ve already mentioned above.

Did you notice that we aren’t asking you to remember things that happened 40 years ago? 5 years is good enough for us.

There’s another subheading with two questions: “Apart from the conditions already mentioned; in the last 10 years have you been”

Are you aware of any conditions for which you may have been treated with cortisone tablets (steroids) for more than two weeks? If you answer yes then the same pop-up box appears asking for further information. Click the X in the top right hand corner if you want to cancel this.
Have you been diagnosed with a condition that may get worse and needs future follow-up? Same thing here with a pop-up box.

Once again, did you notice that we’re only going back 10 years?

We’re almost done with the medical stuff except for four bits of Additional Info:

Do you have an appointment to see a medical professional in the next 6 weeks? This is any one from your family doctor to your dentist. A pop-up box will appear which can be exited by clicking on the X in the top right hand corner.
Have you been booked off sick for more than 2 (consecutive) weeks in the last year? Expect a pop-up box.
Are you aware of any of the following conditions in any of your biological parents, brothers, or sisters? A drop down menu is available. Remember that we’re talking about immediate and blood related family only. Pay particular attention to the ages. For instance, heart attack after the age of 50 doesn’t count. Please select ‘No’ if none of this applies to you.
What is your HIV status? If you answer negative, we’d like to know ‘where did you have your last test done?’ and ‘when did you have your last test done?’ One of our requirements is a negative HIV test.

Below is the Continue button. If any of the questions are incomplete at this stage, it won’t allow you to continue.

A pop-up window appears asking: ‘Have you told us about everything?’ This is last chance saloon and you have the option of going back. If you’re happy with your answers click ‘Yes’ and the Continue button.

5 – Product

At this stage the system will tell you whether you immediately qualify or not. If you don’t, we’ll still assess your information and come back to you requesting more information.

If it’s all systems go from our side, then a pop-up window will appear, the name of which is ‘Before you select a product’.

Reimbursement of cost. We’re disclosing that Old Mutual Alternative Risk Transfer Limited pays us a fee to administer your policy. Click OK
Qualifying Products. Basically we offer you four different products. Click OK
Maximum Cover from all Insurers. We can’t sell you more cover than what you qualify for. Click OK
Annual premium increase and 5-year guarantee. Our cost increases by 6% every year for the first 5 years. After those 5 years are up we will review your cost and possibly adjust the percentage. Click OK

Click on the Continue button below this.

What you will now see is a screen with four tabs on top. Life cover is open by default, and what you will see is the following:

Life Cover

A slider allowing you to increase or decrease the amount of cover or the cost by moving the slider from left to right. There is also a plus and minus button which you can use to do the same thing. Going left reduces the cost or the cover and going right increases it.
Then there are four blocks which can be ticked if you wish to add additional benefits. To the right of each block is a question mark. Hover over the cursor with your pointer, and an explanation of each benefit is shown.
Accelerated Funeral. This pays R50, 000 of your cover upfront at a small additional cost
Terminal illness Benefit. This pays out the life insurance in advance depending on your illness
Double Accident. This doubles up the life insurance amount if you die by accident
Guaranteed Insurability Benefit. This allows you to increase your cover in future.
Below these four benefits is a button saying Next to Salary protection. You can use this button or you can click on the tabs right on top.

If all you want is the life insurance, then you can click on the big orange Continue to Payment button. Below that button is another if you want the quote emailed to you.

Salary Protection

The same slider appears allowing you to increase the monthly income as desired. Remember that you are limited to 75% of your after tax monthly income. If you buy more it would be a waste of your hard earned money.
Below this is a tick block allowing you to include the guaranteed Insurability Benefit. We’d recommend adding this to your Salary Protection.
Above the slider is a link with the words Add to Quote. Click on this link if you wish to add Salary Protection to your life insurance. You will see that the Salary Protection tab gets a black tick alongside it. You will see that the Add to Quote button has now become the Remove from Quote button.
Click on the Next to Disability Cover button below the slider or click on the desired tab.

Disability Cover

Exactly the same as the two previous tabs. A slider allowing you to increase or decrease disability cover or cost
Below that a tick block if you wish to add guaranteed Insurability benefit
A link on the top right stating Add to Quote. Click on this to add Disability Cover to your quote. You will see a black tick in the Disability Cover tab showing that it’s been added. Once again the Add to Quote button changes to Remove from Quote.
Click on the Next to Critical Illness Cover button below the slider or click on the tab on top.

Critical Illness Cover

Exactly the same as the three previous tabs. A slider allowing you to increase or decrease critical illness cover or cost
Below that a tick block if you wish to add guaranteed Insurability benefit
A link on the top right stating Add to Quote. Click on this to add Critical Illness Cover to your quote. You will see a black tick in the Critical Illness Cover tab showing that it’s been added. Once again the Add to Quote button changes to Remove from Quote.
At this point you can only go Back to Disability Cover, Continue to payment, or email this quote.

So what do you think?

Everyone we’ve talked to seems to find it easy, but maybe they’re just being nice. Try it out for yourself and let us know.

And don’t forget to time yourself. 15 minutes is the time to beat.

Oh, and if you say, “Frig it, it’s too complicated!” Well, why not give us a call, and we will do all of this for you?

Maybe we should have said so in the beginning?