NHE to pay out claims for AIDS-related deaths

THE National Housing Enterprise (NHE) has announced that its mortgage insurance scheme will pay out claims for AIDS-related deaths.

NHE Chief Executive Officer Mike Kavekotora said they had found an insurance company that was prepared to offer insurance with an HIV-AIDS cover to thousands of their clients at low premiums. Three years ago the housing parastatal dropped a bombshell when it announced that its policy with Fedsure had changed because of too many AIDS-related deaths and the resultant claims.The low-cost housing provider had no option but to include a clause in its insurance policy that ended the payment of claims to families of clients who died as a result of AIDS-related illnesses.Kavekotora said he was delighted that Sanlam Namibia got on board and was willing to cover AIDS-related deaths.”We received many complaints from clients who felt it was unfair not to pay out claims of clients who died of diseases caused by AIDS,” he was quoted as saying in NHE News, the parastatal’s official newsletter.The Head of Risk Management at Sanlam, Antoinette Joubert, said the scheme came into operation in November last year and the premiums remained the same.In some cases the premiums were even lower.”The reason for this is because we have divided NHE clients into age groups and they will from now on pay a monthly premium according to the group in which they fall,” she explained.She said some 43 households have been spared from losing their property after the death of a breadwinner since the scheme was introduced.No claim has been rejected.Kavekotora urged NHE home-owners to take out bond insurance, although it is not compulsory.”By taking out this insurance, clients will ensure that the house which they have struggled so hard to acquire, will remain the property of their spouses and children after they die,” he said.When the NHE announced the non-payment of claims against AIDS-related illnesses in 2001, it sent shock waves through its client base, as existing contracts were also affected.Many families that lost their breadwinners ended up on the street.At that stage the NHE suggested that HIV-positive people take out individual policies and cancel their contributions to the NHE group scheme with Fedsure.Three years ago the housing parastatal dropped a bombshell when it announced that its policy with Fedsure had changed because of too many AIDS-related deaths and the resultant claims.The low-cost housing provider had no option but to include a clause in its insurance policy that ended the payment of claims to families of clients who died as a result of AIDS-related illnesses.Kavekotora said he was delighted that Sanlam Namibia got on board and was willing to cover AIDS-related deaths.”We received many complaints from clients who felt it was unfair not to pay out claims of clients who died of diseases caused by AIDS,” he was quoted as saying in NHE News, the parastatal’s official newsletter.The Head of Risk Management at Sanlam, Antoinette Joubert, said the scheme came into operation in November last year and the premiums remained the same.In some cases the premiums were even lower.”The reason for this is because we have divided NHE clients into age groups and they will from now on pay a monthly premium according to the group in which they fall,” she explained.She said some 43 households have been spared from losing their property after the death of a breadwinner since the scheme was introduced.No claim has been rejected.Kavekotora urged NHE home-owners to take out bond insurance, although it is not compulsory.”By taking out this insurance, clients will ensure that the house which they have struggled so hard to acquire, will remain the property of their spouses and children after they die,” he said.When the NHE announced the non-payment of claims against AIDS-related illnesses in 2001, it sent shock waves through its client base, as existing contracts were also affected.Many families that lost their breadwinners ended up on the street.At that stage the NHE suggested that HIV-positive people take out individual policies and cancel their contributions to the NHE group scheme with Fedsure.