The table below sets out the multiple of your annual pensionable earnings/TGP which your dependants will receive (together with your Member Account Balance) if you were to die while you are a member of OMEGS. As you can see, the value of the death benefit depends on your age on 1 January each year.

* The life cover multiples are determined by your age on 1 January each year.  These multiples are set using standard insurance principles and the multiples or the contribution rate may change from time to time in line with the claims experience of OMEGS. The Life Cover benefit ceases when you reach Normal Retirement Age (61).
** Full cover applies to those members who have gone for a voluntary medical test and satisfied medical requirements.
The premium rate is expressed as percentage of your pensionable earnings/TGP. The rates may change from time to time in line with claims experience. Please see the Contributions page for the latest premium rates.

The Evidence of Health Limit is R32,000,000 cover (April 2024).

Let’s consider a few examples:

• If you were 39 on 1 January this year, and you have not been for a voluntary medical test, you would qualify for Core Cover of 3.1 times your annual pensionable earnings/TGP. If your annual pensionable earnings/TGP is R100,000 a year, this would mean that your dependants and beneficiaries would receive a benefit of R310,000 PLUS your Member Account Balance if you were to die. (Note that this amount would be subject to tax).
• If you were 47 on 1 January this year, and you have been for a voluntary medical test and satisfied medical requirements, you would qualify for Full Cover of 6.2 times your annual pensionable earnings/TGP. If your annual pensionable earnings/TGP is R100,000 a year, this would mean that your dependants and beneficiaries would receive a benefit of R620,000 PLUS your Member Account Balance if you were to die. (Note that this amount would be subject to tax).

Check out our handy Full Cover Application Guide, or you can follow these few simple steps:

• Do the medical tests
  • Complete the GAP Blood Profile (Medical Examination Request form) and get the Short Medical Report completed by a doctor or registered nurse.
  • Take your ID or other identification with you.
  • Make sure the doctor/nurse sends the Report to OM.
  • Note: Old Mutual pays for the costs of the completed Short Medical Report and blood test!

• Let Old Mutual Group Assurance know:
  • Once you’ve been for your tests, send OM Group Assurance an email: GAPStaffFund@oldmutual.com
  • Tell them your name, staff code, ID number, contact details, details of the doctor/nurse, and the date you went for tests.

Please note the following:

• If the underwriter does not approve your request for Full Cover, you will retain the Core Cover.
• Once you have been accepted in the Full Cover Group by meeting all the appropriate medical requirements, you will not be allowed to transfer back to the Core Cover Group.

If you will be 34, 37, 40, 43, 46, 49, 52, 55 or 58 on 1 January

Your OMEGS Life Assurance Benefit is expressed as a multiple of your annual pensionable earnings/TGP and it is determined by your age on 1 January each year. If you are in the Full Cover group (i.e. you have been for a voluntary medical test and satisfied medical requirements) and you are changing (or have changed) age bands on 1 January, you may experience a drop in your level of cover. However, the good news is that you can “top-up” the cover you lose by taking out voluntary top-up life assurance cover, at an extremely competitive cost, and without needing to go for any kind of medical test.
(If you are in the Core Cover group (i.e. you have not been for a voluntary medical test or you have not satisfied medical requirements), there is currently no voluntary top-up life assurance cover option. If you have not been for a voluntary medical test, we strongly encourage you to do so because you can significantly increase your level of cover!)

Voluntary Top-up Life Assurance Cover

IMPORTANT: You can only select the Voluntary Top-up Life Assurance Cover option between December and January/February each year, if you are changing age bands. 
The Voluntary Top-Up Life Cover benefit allows you to take out cover for the multiple of your annual pensionable earnings/TGP lost (if you are changing age bands), without any need for a medical test. This is a benefit offered by your Employer (not the Fund) and can only be taken up in December and January (and sometimes February) each year. Please look out for communication from the Employer in December/January each year.

Please note: You must complete your beneficiary information on Workday for the allocation of the death benefit payable under the Voluntary Top-up scheme. Any cover that you apply for now will be effective from 1 January or 1 February, and the first deduction will be made from your January/February salary (depending on your application date). The cover will be noted on your future payslips.

We’ve put together a handy guide to help you understand your OMEGS Life Cover benefit how to make it work for those you love.

The Pension Funds Act requires the Management Board of Trustees to allocate your death benefit according to a strict set of guidelines, once they have taken into account the needs of all of your dependants and nominated beneficiaries, and any other relevant information. (Refer to Section 37C of the Pension Fund Act; 24 of 1956).

The Management Board’s discretion extends to the amount that will be paid in cash and the amount that will be used to secure a pension. The Management Board will carefully consider the information you provide, and for this reason it is important for you to regularly update your Beneficiary Nomination Form. The information on your Beneficiary Nomination form will assist the Management Board in allocating your death benefit to your dependants and beneficiaries.

If you are unsure of your current beneficiary nomination details, you can update this information by logging onto the Secure Services website.

This page provides information about what happens when an OMEGS member passes away. To pay out the death benefit from the Old Mutual SuperFund Pension Fund, the SuperFund Trustees must make sure that all the people who depended on the member are fairly considered and protected. They must try to identify everyone who depended on the member for financial support, all dependants, and anyone whom the member had a legal responsibility to support. They need to understand how each person relied financially on the deceased member.

You can watch a short VIDEO CLIP to better understand the death claims process.

Please read the following OVERVIEW OF THE DEATH CLAIMS PROCESS and the forms to be filled in. It is important to read this document before you start completing the forms.

The forms that you may need to use are as follows:

• Claim Form 1: About the Deceased
• Claim Form 2: About the Spouse/Life Partner/Ex-spouse/Guardian
• Claim Form 3: About Any Children
• Claim Form 4: Any Other Financial Dependants
• Claim Form 5: Dependants Who Do Not Wish to Claim
• Claim Form 6: About the Employer
• Claim Form 7: Police Report on Unnatural Deaths
• Claim Form 8: Confirmation of dependants by a 3rd party

If you leave Old Mutual or reach retirement age, the Group Life Conversion Option allows you to convert your Life Assurance Benefit to an individual policy with Old Mutual, without having to provide medical evidence of good health (except for a cotinine test if non-smoker rates are requested).  In addition, you may convert your Voluntary Spouse’s cover (conversion also allowed on the death of the member) and Voluntary Top-up Group Life cover (if applicable).  Your Disability Income Benefit cannot be converted.

The option to convert the Life Assurance Benefit applies:

• When you terminate your service with Old Mutual and exit OMEGS
• When you retire
• When you reach Normal Retirement Age (61) (if you continue working for Old Mutual beyond age 61).

Deadline: 60 days from your last day at work/from reaching age 61

You have 60 days after your last day actively at work or after turning 61 to exercise this option. You need the certificate in order to apply for the conversion. Please complete the Life Assurance Conversion Option Form in order for HR to request the certificate from the insurer. Refer to your last member statement as at 30 June or access the your account on the Secure Services website for an indication of the cover available in respect of your Group Life Cover.
You have to allow enough time for the Insurer to provide you with a certificate to enable you to contact your personal Financial Advisor or broker to effect an individual policy within this 60-day period. The onus is on you to ensure that you receive the certificate and effect the conversion to an individual life policy within this 60-day period.

Process

Once HR receives your conversion option request, the insurer [i.e. Group Assurance Products (GAP)], will supply the certificate. Once you have received the certificate(s), which will indicate the total cover amount you are able to convert to an individual life policy, GAP is no longer involved. You will now need to contact your broker or personal Financial Advisor for quotes based on the cover amounts reflected on the certificate(s). You may choose to convert the full amount or a percentage of this amount to an individual life policy. Your broker or personal Financial Advisor will supply you with the quotations, which you may choose to accept.
Should your conversion option request not reach the insurer within the 60-day period, you will have to follow the standard process of obtaining individual cover, which will include medical underwriting.

An Old Mutual Travelling Nurse may be able to assist you with getting tested for Full Cover, by coming to your office. Instead of making a doctor’s appointment to have a short medical report completed, a dedicated Old Mutual nurse can visit you at work to perform a basic medical check-up, collect samples for blood tests and ask a few questions about your medical history. This saves time and speeds up the underwriting process, giving members faster access to their individual maximum cover amounts.

The Travelling Nurses service can be contacted on: 0860 NURSES (0860 687 737) or by emailing nurse@oldmutual.com

As an Old Mutual Group Life member, you and your immediate family (spouse and dependent children) qualify for the Funeral Support Service at no additional cost.
The service provides worldwide transportation of the deceased (from anywhere in the world) to the place of burial within South Africa, and includes the following features:

• A 24-hour call centre, operated in all 11 official languages.
• Inside South Africa one relative may accompany the body, and overnight accommodation will be arranged.
• Advice on the handling of all the necessary documentation.
• Assistance in finding a tombstone provider.
• Referral to a pathologist.
• Referral to a psychologist or psychiatrist.
• Discounted funeral packages.

For more information, please call 0860 000 500 when you need to use this service