Nedbank Credit Life Insurance Contact Details

Credit life is the cover that pays your loan if you die, become disabled or are retrenched. It is added to most South African credit agreements, it is priced by law, and the single most useful thing to know is that you never have to buy it from the lender.

Official contact channels

• Nedbank Insurance: 0800 333 111, or +27 10 217 4076 from outside South Africa
• Weekday hours are 06:00 to 18:00, with Saturday 07:00 to 15:00 and Sunday 10:00 to 14:00 on the personal line
• Nedbank lists Credit Life under its Insure range alongside life cover, short-term and funeral products
• Quote the loan account number, not the policy number, if you cannot find the policy. Credit life is tied to the credit agreement and is traced through it

What it does and does not do

• It covers the outstanding debt, not your family. The money goes to the lender to settle or service the loan, not to your estate
• Cover typically runs to death, permanent and temporary disability, and retrenchment or loss of income, with different waiting periods for each
• Retrenchment cover usually excludes resignation, dismissal for misconduct, and the end of a fixed-term contract. Read that clause before you rely on it
• It reduces as the loan reduces. On a long loan you are insuring a shrinking amount at a premium that may not shrink with it

Your rights on it

• Credit life premiums are capped by regulation under the National Credit Act. If you have never been shown the premium as a separate line, ask for it in writing
• You have the right to substitute your own policy of at least equivalent cover. A credit provider may not refuse a valid substitution, and may not charge you a fee for exercising the right
• You cannot be forced to buy the lender own product as a condition of the loan. Being told otherwise is a compliance failure worth reporting
• Check whether you are paying credit life on several loans at once. People commonly hold three or four without realising, each on a shrinking balance

Claiming

• Notify as soon as the event happens, even before you have every document. Late notification is the most common reason a good claim fails
• For a retrenchment claim, keep the letter of retrenchment and the UIF documents. For disability, the medical reports carry the claim
• A claim does not pause your instalments by itself. Keep paying, or arrange a hold in writing, until the insurer confirms the claim is admitted

If a claim is refused

• Get the refusal and the exact policy clause in writing. An insurer must give reasons
• For advice or a mis-sold policy, the FAIS Ombud is on 0860 663 274
• For the claim decision itself, the National Financial Ombud is on 0860 800 900
• For a credit agreement that forced cover on you or overcharged for it, the National Credit Regulator is on 0860 627 627

Sources

• Nedbank official contact page, insurance section, for the insurance number, its international dialling equivalent and the published operating hours
• Nedbank official site Insure navigation, which lists Credit Life among its insurance products
• Nedbank official contact page, for the FAIS Ombud, National Financial Ombud and National Credit Regulator referral details
• National Credit Act and its credit life insurance regulations, for the premium cap and the right to substitute an equivalent policy