A tale of two life-changing events

Adam Helper’s family moved to South Africa from Israel when he was seven and settled in the picturesque neighbourhood of Sydenham. His father owned the much-loved Mooz Brothers, a kosher bakery and deli located on the Sandringham strip.

Despite his son’s profession as a financial adviser, Adam’s father didn’t believe in life insurance.

“About six, seven years ago, I went to my dad – who was very anti-life insurance and landed up with me as a son – and I said to him, look you’re a restaurant owner, you’re self-employed and you can’t be walking around without any life insurance,” Adam says. After much to-and-fro, his father eventually agreed to take out a policy.

What neither Adam nor his father knew was that at age 60, he would suffer a stroke and pass away within two days.

“My father was a healthy guy,” Adam says. “He was on Diamond Vitality status, he used to go to the gym at least three times a week, he hardly drank, never smoked, he was maybe a little bit overweight but not too overweight and he always got standard rates on his medicals, which means he was of good health.”

A month before his father died, Adam’s mother asked him to cancel their life cover, because they could no longer afford to pay the premiums. However, Adam stood his ground and convinced them to keep the policy. 

“She didn’t cancel it … and then on 6 June 2016 my father collapsed. It was a Sunday night, I remember. He had a massive stroke and he passed away two days later. I remember looking at my mother, we were standing around him in the ICU at Sunninghill Hospital, and I said to her, aren’t you relieved we didn’t cancel anything?”

Discovery Life paid out the benefit to Adam’s mother. “It wasn’t much cover because he was relatively old when he did it but at least my mother has a paid-off house. She’s renting it out now and has subsequently got remarried and immigrated.”

“Their dream was always to go back to live in Israel when they retire. My mother’s now living her dream, she met someone and she lives in Israel.”

How a motorcycle accident changed a client’s life

Around 2007, before Adam joined Discovery in 2011, he met a potential client for a consultation at another insurance firm.

“He had one Discovery Life policy that he took out before I met him, and we did an analysis and could not match the benefits that Discovery Life had given him,” Adam explains. “So, I told him, just keep your policy, it’s the right thing to do. He still did a bit of business with me but we never cancelled that policy and over the years we built up quite a good relationship.”

In 2013, the same client was in a motorcycle accident. “It was a minor accident, the bike slipped, someone just tapped him, knocked him with their car, and he broke his arm.”

He had Capital Disability cover in place, which pays out if you suffer a life-changing event and you are permanently disabled. In this case, due to the neurological nature of the injury, it was difficult to determine whether he would regain full use of his arm.

“What Discovery Life does is, four months after the claim was lodged, if no permanence has yet been established, they pay a portion of the amount to the client,” Adam explains.

While they were still waiting on doctors to establish permanence, Adam received a phone call. “I was near to the Genesis Centre when he phoned me and said, Adam, Discovery’s just deposited like R800 000 into my account, do you have any idea what this is about? Is this my claim?”

It was: he received his Capital Disability claim in full.

“Discovery figured that the injury is permanent and they looked to pay him,” Adam says. His accident also triggered the Discovery Global Education Protector. “Not only did he get that lump sum which then assisted him in buying a new car with all the changes he needed to make for it, but his 11-year-old son is educated in a top private school and his education is covered right up to matric and tertiary,” Adam concludes.

This article is meant only as information and should not be taken as financial advice. For tailored financial advice, please contact your financial adviser. Discovery Life Limited. Registration number 1966/003901/06, is a registered long-term insurer, and an authorised financial services and registered credit provider, NCR registration number NCRCP3555. Product rules, terms and conditions apply.