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Insurance & Medical Aid · Contact details

Dis-Chem Medical Aid Contact Details

Verified 2 September 2026Official source onlyIndependent directoryReport a wrong number

The most important line on the Dis-Chem Health site is its own disclaimer: Dis-Chem Health is not a Medical Scheme or an Insurer. Anyone searching for Dis-Chem medical aid is looking at medical insurance and gap cover, which are different products under different law, and that difference decides both what you are covered for and where you go when something goes wrong.

Official provider route

Two addresses on that contact page carry a typing error and will not deliver as printed. Billing is shown as billing@kaelo followed by coza with no dot, and claims as Claims@kaelo with the same fault. Both are missing the full stop between co and za, while every other administrator address on the same page uses the domain correctly. They are described here so you can recognise them rather than retype them: use the customer support address above and ask to be routed, or use the customer engagement address.

The billing entry has a second quirk worth knowing. The address displayed on screen is the broken one, while the link behind it actually points to customerengagement@dischemhealth.co.za. Clicking works; copying what you see does not.

Product or service support

Dis-Chem Health offers medical insurance, gap cover and accident cover. The products are administered by Kaelo, which is why almost every contact address sits on a kaelo.co.za domain rather than a Dis-Chem one. The site also discloses that Kaelo Risk holds preference shares in Centriq Insurance Company Limited.

The distinction the disclaimer is pointing at is worth setting out properly, because it is the difference between two quite different things:

  • A registered medical scheme operates under the Medical Schemes Act, is regulated by the Council for Medical Schemes, and must cover prescribed minimum benefits
  • Medical insurance is an insurance product regulated under insurance law and by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, and it pays defined amounts rather than covering treatment on a scheme basis
  • Gap cover is designed to sit alongside a medical scheme and cover shortfalls, rather than to replace scheme membership

If what you actually need is medical scheme cover, this product does not provide it, and no amount of contacting the numbers above will change that. That is not a criticism of the product; it is what the company itself is telling you in its disclaimer.

Eligibility, account or policy requirements

Have your policy number ready before calling. Because there is one number for both product lines, the policy number and the product name are what route the call.

Gap cover in particular assumes you already belong to a medical scheme, since it exists to cover the difference between what a scheme pays and what a provider charges. Taking gap cover without underlying scheme membership leaves a gap with nothing on the other side of it, which is worth confirming before you buy rather than at claim stage.

One practical note. Claims, billing and policy queries are handled by the administrator, not by Dis-Chem stores. A pharmacy counter cannot look up a policy, amend a debit order or progress a claim, so the numbers above are the route rather than the nearest branch.

Escalation route

Work through customer support first, then the escalations mailbox. The company publishes a complaints process document on its own site, and following the published steps in order makes a complaint considerably harder to set aside later.

Beyond the company, the disclaimer decides the forum, and this is where it has real consequences. Because these are insurance products rather than a medical scheme, the Council for Medical Schemes has no jurisdiction over them. An unresolved complaint about the policy or a claim goes to the National Financial Ombud Scheme South Africa on share call 0860 800 900 or at info@nfosa.co.za, and a complaint about how the product was sold or advised on goes to the FAIS Ombud instead.

Approaching the wrong ombud is the usual cost of assuming this is a medical aid. Establish which product you hold before you lodge anything, because the two ombud schemes will each decline what belongs to the other.

Sources

  • dischemhealth.co.za contact page, for the support number, all mailboxes, the emergency route, the counselling service and the disclaimer that the business is not a medical scheme or an insurer
  • dischemhealth.co.za site footer, for the administrator relationship and the disclosed Centriq shareholding
  • dischemhealth.co.za published complaints process document

All contact details on this page were read from the company own website and verified on 2 September 2026.