Everyone needs to have insurance. There is the consideration of what you will do once you pass away but still have to provide for your loved ones. There’s car insurance and funeral policies, not to mention things such as medical aids and accidental death insurance and disability insurance. This is when PPS insurance brokers can come in handy if you’re a professional.
Initially let us clarify a couple of things.
PPS stands for professional provident society. It is a group of companies and individuals that look out for the interests of professionals.
Professionals are those who have completed a 4 year degree at a university or one of a select few 4 year technikon degrees. The actual group has since expanded their cover to include those who are within their last year of study for a degree such as this.
There are a variety of PPS insurance brokers around. They are there to help the PPS group sell their own insurance plans. If you need some kind of extensive insurance and have completed or even are in the final year of your 4 year degree you’ll do well to make contact with a few PPS insurance brokers.
It is possible for you to contact every member of the PPS group separately to get estimates for the insurance policy that you want. You will most likely wind up having to pay much more by doing this though because you will not obtain a extensive package deal if you do this. PPS insurance brokers have connections within the various members of the PPS group and will also be in a position to broker a great deal for you.
You will also be able to minimise the time it requires to maintain your own insurance plans and investments by going through one of the PPS insurance brokers. If you want to change something on a plan or even if your personal details change all you’ve got to do is actually contact your broker and they will do the rest of the leg work for you. This means that you are able to concentrate on getting your work done and not upon attempting to contact the right individuals at all the companies that you have insurance plans with.
Brokers in general will add a small amount onto the policies that they sell as they must make an income in the process. However, the work that they do in your stead more than makes up for this surcharge. Getting any kind of insurance through brokers makes your life easier. If you are a professional it may really save you money, specifically if you are paid by the hour, because you will not need to spend time not working while you contact the insurance companies.
Therefore, if you’re a professional and are searching for insurance it might do you well to look for some PPS insurance brokers to help you get your own insurance profile taken care of. You could get a good deal through the agents due to their connections. Utilizing PPS insurance brokers will also save you time because they will do the worst of the legwork for you.
I just cannot imagine my life without my broker! I really can’t grasp why many people elect to manage their insurance policies, medical aids and other important financial matter by themselves.
After speaking to a couple of my buddies and family I’ve come to the conclusion that people have a misconception of precisely what a broker does and “how expensive” brokers are. Hopefully the information listed below might be beneficial in outlining why a broker is a “must have” contact in any person’s life!
Firstly, it is important to understand the distinction between a broker and an agent. An insurance agent is employed by a specific firm. For that reason an agent is only going to sell you policies with the company he/she works for. A broker in contrast, is not employed by a particular business. They’re able to present you with different policies from different companies and because they can shop around, they will be able to assist you with getting better and more cost-effective policies than you would be able to get hold of by yourself.
Secondly, using a broker is not (always!) going to cost you more! There are actually only a couple of brokers who charge a fee for their services. Most brokers however work on a commission structure. This commission is payable by the insurance provider and is already calculated in the insurance premium. To put it simply, you will not pay extra when dealing with a broker and you will not spend less when attempting to source insurance by yourself.
As with all things in life, practical experience plays an important role in choosing a broker to take care of your needs and requirements. Remember that these brokers need to build up connections with the insurance providers and that takes time! The longer the broker has been in the business, the broader his portfolio will be and you will be able to choose from a wide range of services and products.
A good portfolio is however worthless if the broker doesn’t know the industry and his products. You have to be 100% sure that the broker has knowledge on the product he is recommending and that he/she can promise you that the specific policy will meet your needs and requirements.
Another positive thing about having a broker is that your questions can be answered with a simple telephone call. We all occasionally have a question which needs to be answered, or assistance with a specific claim or other service. Why spend hours on the phone attempting to find the correct person to speak with at the insurance provider if you’re able to simply leave this in the capable hands of your broker?
Different brokers specialize in different fields. Our broker for instance, handles our life insurance coverage, our medical aid and our retirement annuity. When choosing a broker ensure that he/she can assist you properly. If a broker specializes in annuities, don’t expect him/her to offer expert advice on short term insurance!
An insurance broker players such a big role in our society and that is because over the last decade insurance and the business of insurance has really boomed. Insurance which was an unheard of concept in the past, is now an everyday topic. Insurance companies, offer to insure almost all aspects of our lives. From motor insurance to health insurance to the insurance of pets and even body part, it seems that there is not an aspect of life which the insurance market has not managed to capitalize on. Now whether the need for such extensive insurance is necessary is debatable, but it is true that selling of insurance does serve as a major security blanket for millions of people. If you were ever in a car accident or if your house was burgled and you could claim against your insurance you would know what a relief it was to have that insurance cover.
Now the insurance broker is usually the face behind the insurance industry. The insurance broker, can be considered to be the middle man between the insured and the insurance company and their roles are many, at some moments acting as agents at other moments as an facilitators and negotiators.
Now one must also differentiate between an insurance agent and an insurance broker, as people may use these words interchangeably and some insurance agents pass themselves off as insurance brokers when in fact there is a difference. An insurance agent works for an insurance company and is only allowed to advice on and sell different insurance products from that insurance company. He cannot shop around- so to speak between different companies. An insurance broker on the other hand works principally on behalf of his client and he maybe self employed, or work for a brokerage firm. He works with a number of different insurance companies and goes about the business of sourcing the best policy for his client. He acts as an intermediary, and facilitator and negotiator between you and the insurance company.
Brokerage fees can be very high depending on various factors one of them being the product. Simple insurance products, such as household and car insurance for example should not have high fees at all. An insurance broker is either paid on commission basis only, or they can be paid a salary and a commission or just a salary.
How does the insurance broker help you?
When you visit an insurance broker and you have the need to insure something, the insurance broker will get the best quotes of different policies on the market. He or she will then explain the benefits or disadvantages of the different policies, he has found for you. The insurance broker will explain in detail what the fine print means before you buy a particular product.
Insurance brokers also have access to special rates and deals, which you as an individual will not be able to get for yourself. So in order to get the best deals and the best cover, speak to an insurance broker to get expert advice.
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