1LifeDirect Life Cover: About the Company
1LifeDirect Life Cover is a life insurance product offered to customers by 1LifeDirect. The company was founded in 2006 and is owned by Budget Holdings Ltd, a European based group. 1LifeDirect was designed to offer direct insurance, meaning that customers can buy online or through their mobiles, rather than dealing directly with an insurance broker. This means that the company has eliminated many of their overhead expenses, which in turn, they claim on their website, means they can offer low premiums to customers. 1LifeDirect does have a partner company, known simply as 1Life that offers more traditional insurance policies. The current CEO of 1LifeDirect is Lenerd Louw.
Where is 1LifeDirect Located?
You can contact 1LifeDirect through their postal address which is P.O. Box 11250, Johannesburg, South Africa 2000.
What Services Do 1LifeDirect Provide?
1LifeDirect Life Cover is really the only product that's directly provided by 1LifeDirect Life Insurance. There is no 1LifeDirect funeral cover, for example, as these more traditional policies are sold by 1Life, rather than 1LifeDirect. 1LifeDirect supplies only simple life insurance policies to customers, either online or by phone.
1LifeDirect Life Cover
1LifeDirect Life Cover offers two simple life insurance plans, though the company also offers a special Credit life plan to cover the debts of the deceased, as well as one additional added product in the form of Expo-Sure access. We'll outline these plans below.
1LifeDirect Life Cover Basic
This is the basic life insurance plan offered by 1LifeDirect life insurance and it has the following features:
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Pay out is a lump sum of up to R200,00;
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Your coverage will not decrease as long as your policy is active;
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You may choose to make this a whole life policy, or to choose a set term for the policy;
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The policy includes terminal illness coverage, which means that if a terminal illness is diagnosed with the patient expected to live less than 12 months, pay out will be immediate;
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Accidental death is automatically covered.
1LifeDirect Life Cover Elevated
There is also an elevated version of the basic plan offered by 1LifeDirect Life Cover, with the following features:
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Pay out is a lump sum from R200,000 up to whatever coverage maximum you choose, with more coverage obviously costing more expensive monthly premiums;
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You may increase your coverage during the term of your policy if you wish;
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Again, you may choose whether the policy is valid for your whole life or for just a set period of time;
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As above, there is terminal illness coverage and accidental death is automatically covered..
1LifeDirect Credit Life Cover
This policy is designed to help pay off outstanding debts at the time of death or during other difficult circumstances. The features of Credit Life Cover are as follows:
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Short and long term capital debt will be paid off with the appropriate lender upon death;
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In the case of retrenchment (being fired from your employment due to economic causes) the policy will pay up to R20,000 per month for six months to help cover both short and long term loans;
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The amount of coverage will go down as you pay off your loans (which presumably means your premiums will also go down, though the 1LifeDirect Life Cover website does not specifically say this);
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The policy will be valid for the whole life of the loan or loans that you take out;
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Coverage is immediate;
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The policy includes serious disease cover and occupational disability cover, so that should you be diagnosed with a serious illness or disabled and unable to work at least some your loans will be paid off depending on how much coverage you have.
1LifeDirect Expo-Sure
In addition, 1LifeDirect Life Cover also includes access to Expo-Sure for all their policy holders. Expo-Sure is a service that provides confidential testing, treatment and counselling in the event of accidental HIV exposure.
How Do Customers Rate 1LifeDirect Life Cover?
Hellopeter, the website that allows customers to rate service providers, has received 1086 reviews of 1LifeDirect over the last twelve months. These reviews were for both 1LifeDirect and 1Life, the sister company. Of these reviews 969 were positive, giving 1Life an 89% positive rating. This is impressive, and one of the higher positive ratings that we've seen for an insurance company. Many customers commented on 1Life's excellent customer service as well as speedy claim payments. The only real trend we saw in the negative comments is customers complaining that 1Life send marketing SMSs or emails.
Is the 1LifeDirect Website Easy to Use?
The 1LifeDirect website is very easy to use, for the simple reason that it has only four main pages. Given that the company aims to 
make buying life insurance simple and easy, this should come as no surprise. It was obviously easy to find what we were looking for, and policies were explained in clear, easy to understand language with no technical terms and definitions. We would sometimes have liked a little more information about policies, but the general information was well explained and not likely to overwhelm new customers. Nevertheless, a link to more information on a pdf file might interest some customers who like to know more. As experienced insurance shoppers we'd like more info, but for the new insurance shopper 1LifeDirect probably provides enough info to get you started.
1LifeDirect Life Cover in Conclusion
1LifeDirect offers very simple life insurance policies and markets them to customers through an easy to understand website. For customers that don't know too much about insurance, this can be ideal. On top of this, customer reviews for 1Life on the Hellopeter review website were encouraging. So, overall, it looks like the company is doing a good job. Nevertheless, we always advise that you get at least 2 life insurance quotes before deciding. You can do just this by completing the form on the top right of this page.
* Disclaimer: We do not represent any of the companies, products and/or services reviewed, published or advertised on this website. Nor are we financial, health or insurance professionals or services provider. If you request a quote or purchase a product/service, it will not necessarily be given by the company reviewed on any specific page. Any decisions you make based on the information presented is at your own discretion and we advise that before doing so, you consult with the relevant professional.
Main subject: 1LifeDirect Life Cover
