About Alexander Forbes Insurance
Originally a small life insurance and pension company begun in the 1930s, Alexander Forbes Insurance is now a large firm providing many financial and insurance services. The company is listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange. Alexander Forbes Insurance South Africa is just one part of an international company, and the firm also operates in the UK, six other European countries, Namibia and Abu Dhabi. Alexander Forbes also operates subsidiary businesses in eleven other African countries, including Kenya and Zimbabwe. The current CEO of the AFI Group is Edward Kieswetter, and the managing director of Alexander Forbes Insurance is Gari Dombo.
Where is Alexander Forbes Insurance Located?
The head office of Alexander Forbes Insurance is located at 115 West Street Sandown, Johannesburg. Alexander Forbes also has offices in fifteen cities across South Africa, including Cape Town, East London, Bloemfontein and Durban.
Services Provided by Alexander Forbes Insurance
Alexander Forbes provide a range of financial and insurance services. They offer consulting, pension and administrative services for businesses, and also a full range of insurance options including vehicle, health, accident and life insurance.
Alexander Forbes Life Insurance
Alexander Forbes life insurance options appear to be quite comprehensive, however, try as we might, we found little information about these options on the company's website. Whilst there is a list of the kinds of options they offer, there is little detailed information. Going by the Alexander Forbes website, here are the options that are available:
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Life Benefit, which pays out a lump sum in the event of death (the website also refers to Wealth Benefit, but it's unclear whether these two policies are the same);
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Capital Disability Benefit, a policy that pays a lump sum if you become permanently disabled and unable to work, covering you until the age of 65;
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Comprehensive Capital Disability Benefit, as above but also pays out a lump sum if you are diagnosed permanently impaired, though the website gives no example of what this might mean;
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Comprehensive Income Disability Benefit, which will pay 100% of your current taxable income should you be unable to work due to illness, accident or disability, though again the website gives no indication of how long you can claim payments for whether months, years or until retirement age;
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Disability and Dread Disease Cover, which will cover both your income and expected medical costs should you become disabled or be diagnosed with a serious disease;
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Dread Disease Benefit, which will pay out a lump sum should you be diagnosed with a serious disease or illness such as cancer, heart attack or stroke;
- Business Overheads Benefit, which will cover the overhead costs (rent, wages, etc.) of your business should you become disabled, this option can only be added to a Comprehensive Income Disability Plan and cannot be purchased alone.
Obviously, this is not a lot of information, and is only an overview of the possibilities that Alexander Forbes offers to those interested in purchasing life insurance. We presume that the Life Benefit is the basic life insurance plans, and the other policies are just add ons to this, but we can't be sure. The website also fails to include information that we'd expect to find, such as how long your income will be paid to you under the Comprehensive Income Disability Benefit plan, for example.
What About Alexander Forbes' Customer Reviews?
Using the customer review website Hellopeter we found 298 consumer reviews of Alexander Forbes Insurance posted in the last twelve months. Of this number, 241 were negative and 57 were positive, giving Alexander Forbes an 80% negative feedback score. Many of the negative reviews complained about large increases in premiums. Others mentioned customer service. On the upside, nearly all of the reviews received feedback from an Alexander Forbes representative.
The Alexander Forbes Insurance Website
The website for Alexander Forbes Insurance is simple to navigate, and finding the life insurance section was easy. We especially liked 
that we could access any section of the website from a list of links that appears at the top of every page, which made moving around the website easy and fast. When it comes to the information available though, we were disappointed. In other sections, for car insurance, for example, Alexander Forbes provides lots of detailed information. But for life insurance the information we found was limited to a short explanation of options. It would be nice to see more info here that would help consumers better make a decision.
Alexander Forbes Insurance Summary
It's difficult to evaluate the life insurance options that Alexander Forbes Insurance offers, since the company's website offers little detailed information. The amount of options suggests that there is a lot of flexibility in choosing your insurance policy, however. The consumer reviews that the company received on Hellopeter aren't very encouraging. If you're shopping for life insurance we always recommend that you get quotes from at least two or three different insurance companies to be able to make the best choice for you. If you're interested, you can get up to 2 free life insurance quotes by filling in the form on the top.
* 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: Alexander Forbes Insurance
