Frank.net: Company Bio
Frank.net are a direct insurance company, meaning that they do not use insurance brokers. The company provides lifestyle and life insurance options to customers. Policies with Frank.net are backed by Munich Re, a worldwide reinsurer, whilst the company itself is a subsidiary of the Liberty Holdings group, who also own the Liberty Life insurance company. The company also trades under the name Frank Financial Services. John Maxwell is the CEO of Frank.net, and Andrew McNulty is the CFO.
Where is Frank.net Located?
The headquarters of Frank.net can be found on the 8th Floor, Eleven Adderley, 11 Adderley Street, Cape Town, South Africa.
Services Provided by Frank.net
Unlike many other insurance companies, Frank.net Insurance focusses solely on life insurance and related products, including disability and funeral insurance.
Frank.net Insurance Options
As well as a traditional life insurance option, Frank.net also offers four other kinds of policy that may be of interest to those shopping for life insurance.
Life Insurance
This is Frank.net's basic life insurance option, and it has the following benefits:
-
Pay out of up to R10 million in a tax free lump sum;
-
Unlimited number of beneficiaries, which can be changed at any time;
-
Premiums are based on lifestyle factors such as smoking, weight and potentially dangerous activities such as extreme sports;
-
Full cover policies require an HIV test;
-
Coverage is immediate.
This information is slightly limited, for example we could not find any information about suicide coverage, for which many insurance companies require a longer waiting period before a claim can be made.
Salary Protection
Frank.net also offers a salary protection policy which is designed to protect your income if you are ill or injured and unable to work, as well as if you are retrenched. The features of this policy are:
-
The policy will pay out up to 75% of your monthly income (up to a limit of R75,000) should you be unable to work;
-
Immediate coverage;
-
Once the policy has been active for six months you will qualify for a retrenchment benefit which will pay an agreed upon percentage of your monthly salary for up to six months when you are retrenched;
-
Should you be permanently unable to work due to illness or disability, you will receive monthly payouts until the age of 65;
-
Payouts will begin three months after your last salary payout from your employer and will be subject to tax.
Serious Illness Cover
Frank.net's serious illness cover option is designed to give you financial security in the event that you are diagnosed with a severe illness. The policy has the following features:
-
Payout is in the form of a lump sum of between R100,000 and R2 million depending on your level of coverage and personal risk factors;
-
Payout can be used for anything from covering additional medical costs to supporting your family whilst you are unable to work;
-
A payout will be made in the event of a stroke or heart attack, or a cancer diagnosis or if you require open heart surgery;
-
There is a three month waiting period for cancer coverage.
Disability Cover
Disability cover with Frank.net is designed to give you financial security in case you become permanently disabled and are unable to work. The features of Frank.net disability cover are as follows:
-
A tax free lump sum payout of up to R5 million should you be unable to work in your field or in any other field for which you are qualified;
-
Coverage up to the age of 65.
Family Funeral Cover
The final option from Frank.net is family funeral cover to help offset the high cost of a funeral for the policy holder or for other family members. The features of this plan are:
-
Policy can cover you, your spouse and both sets of parents, plus up to eight children and up to eight extended family members;
-
Coverage for you, you spouse and both sets of parents can't exceed R75,000, coverage for children and extended family members under the age of 6 is 25% of your coverage (up to a maximum of R10,000), from the ages of 6 to 13 that becomes 50% of your coverage (up to a maximum of R30,000), and from the age of 14 coverage can be 100% of your coverage;
-
If you have made twelve consecutive payments and have not made a claim you are eligible for a payment holiday which will let you skip one month's premium.
How Are Frank.net's Consumer Reviews?
Frank.net also trades under the name of Frank Financial Services, for which there are 34 customer reviews on hellopeter, the website that allows consumers to post reports about service providers. This is a low number of reviews compared to other insurance companies that we've looked at, and makes it basicaly impossible to draw any objective conclusionst. Of the complaints, customers mention marketing emails and difficulty getting Frank.net to provide them with tax certificates. On the positive side, all the reports received feedback from a Frank.net representative.
Is www.frank.net User Friendly?
The Frank.net website is very user friendly. The site is easy to navigate, with a menu bar at the top of every page that lets you easily skip around between policies. Each policy has its own page and the information available whilst not being incredibly in depth is enough to inform the average shopper, and there's a nice lack of technical life insurance terms and definitions which makes everything easy to understand. The only aspect that we would have liked to change was the fact that each page has shrink down menus within it that automatically close when another is opened, so you can't read the full page at the same time. This is a small issue in an otherwise user friendly website though.
Frank.net: The Summary
Frank.net is a direct insurance company that concentrates on life insurance and related products. Their website gives a good overall view of their policies. As for their customer service, it is not possible to reach any conclusions based on the low amount of reports. Some would say that the fact that so few reports exist in itself is a positive thing, other would prefer to focus on the content of the few complaints that exist – we will sit this one out and let you decide. If you have experienced their service, comment here below. Either way, with life insurance being such an important decision, we suggest that you get at least 2-3 quotes before deciding. You can get up to two Free life insurance quotes by completing the form on the top right. Don't forget to read up on the subject before – you can do so by reading our "Life Insurance Questions and Answers" post.
* 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: Frank.net