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Many people dismiss the necessity of home insurance. There is a general tendency to view insurance as an imposed expense, such as in the case of motor insurance or as just a life savings option, such as Life Assurance. While both are absolutely useful, home insurance is also one of the most important types of insurance in a person’s life.

What is Home Insurance?

Home insurance is an insurance product which is designed to protect your house and its contents, against damage caused by perils such as flood, fire and burglary, amongst others.

What are the benefits of Home Insurance?

A home insurance reimburses the policyholder the cost of the damage caused, within the limits of the value of the sum assured. This provides the policyholders with a protection for their assets in case of unforeseen perils.

For example, if a fire damages the floors, walls and other fixtures, as well as the contents of the household, the policyholder can make claims against the sum insured for the house. This is dependent on the type of policies taken out. A building insurance cover provides cover against damage to the building and some fixtures of the house. A content insurance cover provides cover against damage or theft of to the valued contents of the household.

A policyholder would get better coverage if they opted for both types of covers.

One of the most clear-cut benefit for the policyholder is the protection against meeting the cost of the damage out-of-pocket. Once the compensation is paid out, the policyholder can start the process of rebuilding with less financial constraints.

Who can take out a home insurance?

Anyone who owns a home or rents an apartment or house can take out a home insurance. The Home Insurance has two types of policies – one covers the building and fixtures of the house and the second covers contents of the home. A homeowner can and should ideally take both covers. A landlord can take out a building cover and a renter (tenant) can take out a contents cover.

Tell us more about the Home Insurance Promotion

As part of our #Sacos40 anniversary, we are running two promotions for Home Insurance – one for existing customers and one for new customers.

For existing customers, Sacos will choose 10 lucky winners to win 4 years FREE insurance coverage for a sum assured up to SCR2 million. Any existing customer whose coverage has recently expired or will expire during the month of August, should renew the policy by 31 August 2020. For new customers who takes out a Home Insurance during the month of August, Sacos will provide 40 days free coverage to the new client.

Call us on 429 5000 or send an email to general@sacos.sc for more information. Visit our website for more details on home insurance.

Watch the video advert here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RckZOr9tvlQ

On 1 August 2020, we celebrate our 40th anniversary milestone in our journey as one among the leading insurance providers in Seychelles.

Our company has come a long way since the enactment of the State Assurance Corporation of Seychelles Act on 1 August 1980. SACOS was the household name during an era where many state-owned enterprises were renowned by their acronyms.

At the time, the company focused mainly on the sale of general insurance. The life insurance business would only be introduced a decade later on 1 March 1990, with the first survival benefit paid out in 1995. In 1996, Sacos activated the first insurance agents to help meet its premium target for the year.

Over the years, Sacos expanded its portfolio of insurance products to tailor to the specific needs of its customers. Some of the most recent products have been the Junior Plan, Mortgage Protection, Student Travel Insurance and the enhanced motor comprehensive insurance with funeral cover. In February 2020, the first Funeral Insurance Plan was made available in Seychelles and it became the newest addition to an ever-expanding range of insurance products.

The new millennium introduced significant organisational and company changes to Sacos as a response to the changing business environment and the proliferation of the information age.

Corporate changes

In 2006, the Government of Seychelles announced the decision to privatise Sacos. At the time, the government retained a twenty percent stake in the company and thirty percent of the shares were tendered to strategic investors. To embrace a “share ownership culture”, the remaining shares were tendered to the general public in the following year. Sacos was thus incorporated as the State Assurance Company Ltd (SACL). The government sold its remaining shares on Trop-X in 2014.

In August 2013, Sacos became the first company to be listed on Trop-X (the Seychelles securities exchange). Since its original listing, the share price experienced rapid growth from the original price of SCR35 to SCR115.

Sacos further embarked on a rebranding exercise in 2017, changing its trading name to Sacos Insurance Group and introducing a number of structural changes. In that same year Sacos amalgamated two of its subsidiary arms under the main company Sacos Group Ltd. Sacos Life Assurance Company Ltd remains a separate legal entity under the constitution of the Sacos Group of Companies.

Property Management

Diversification goals and an intent to assist the government with its social objectives, Sacos first entered the real estate business in 1996, following the purchase of a property plot at Anse Etoile. By 1998, a bloc of 63-bedroom units had been built and the first tenants moved into their apartments. Over the years, Sacos would later expand its residential portfolio by building new blocs at Anse Etoile, Quinsy Village and Point Larue.

In 2017, the company set out to diversify from residential properties and focus more on commercial and other types of investments. This saw the sale of the Quinsy Village and Pointe Larue Apartments. The company owns or have stakes in several commercial properties in Seychelles, including Docklands and Sunshine House. In 2019, Sacos opened its first warehouse at Providence with separate units for rental, with a second such investment made in 2020.

Digital access

Sacos introduced its first IT system (AS400) in the early 1990s, which to some extent is still being used today but slowly being replaced. Since then Sacos has seen the introduction of other more modern IT systems for its core business (Life and General insurance).

Sacos went online in 2000 in the year of the Y2k when it launched its first website although a more prominent digital footprint were cemented in the next decade. A Facebook page was launched in 2016, followed later by an Instagram page. As part of the rebranding exercise in 2017, the website was completely revamped and featured interactive options such as insurance online calculation and online quotation requests. The Sacos blog was launched in April 2018 to provide clients with reader-friendly access to insurance-related information.

Sacos Location

The first Sacos office, opened in September 1980, was based at the now-demolished Pirates Arms Building. The headquarters eventually moved to Sacos Tower, an iconic SCR18m tall building on Palm Street, in 2006. The move was largely emblematic of the journey Sacos had embarked on at the time. With the growth of its business and the objective of making its services accessible to all, Sacos opened other branches on Mahé and Praslin.

In October 2018, Sacos’ headquarters moved to the Maison Esplanade on Francis Rachel Street. The new location provides walk-in customers with a more centralized location and a more open and friendly access to staff and services.

Our journey and accomplishments would not have been possible without the dedicated efforts of our hard working team and the confidence of our loyal customers. For that, we sincerely thank all of you for your support and trust.

One of the key goals in our lives is to become a homeowner but most often we face limitations arising out of a lack of capital, among some other common factors.

One of the crucial benefits of life insurance plans is that they allow us the opportunity to budget and save for those important future life events, including purchasing or building our own home.

Such a plan is the Endowment Assurance Plan!

The Endowment Assurance Plan is uniquely designed to allow the policyholder to save over a long period of time and collect a substantial amount at the end of the savings period. The Endowment Assurance Plan pays the full sum assured, with accrued bonuses, upon maturity.

A future homeowner with a goal to build their house within a certain timeframe could consider using the Endowment Assurance Plan as mortgage deposit for a house loan.

As an example, an 18 year old policy holder decide to take a SCR150,000 Endowment policy with a term of 10years, the policy holder’s monthly premium would only be around SCR1,320. When the policy matures in 10 years, the policy holder receives the full SCR150,000, and any accrued bonuses. The SCR150,000 can then be used as the down payment on a SCR900,000 house loan.

The Endowment Assurance Plan is considered to be an effective savings plan as it yields better result if there is a long policy term and  if the policyholder waits until the end of the maturity period to collect the full sum assured.

The policy term is usually dependent on the monthly premium the policyholder is willing to pay and the full sum assured.  A person who is in search to build or purchase their own home within a certain time frame, may consider a number of options.

These possibilities are best explored between the potential policy holder and a Sacos representative. Contact us for more information on +248 429 5039 or life@sacos.sc.

 

Monday, 20 July 2020

Sacos is keeping the momentum going with its win back Motor Full Comprehensive promotion which rewards one customer every month with up to SCR30,000 of their annual premium.

In a small ceremony held on 16th July 2020, in the presence of the CEO of Sacos, the 6th winner of the Motor Fully Comprehensive Win Back Promotion for the year 2020 received his star prize.

Mr Morel who is the star prize winner for the month of June had this to say as he recounted his experience with the company “I have been a customer of Sacos for over 30 years! All my insurances are with Sacos, both personal and for business. So far I’m very happy with the service” Mr. Morel added that he once lost a shop to a fire and the claim was handled very well by the company.

Our other winners, were once more pleasantly surprised and happy to receive their prize. Mr. Lawson, upon collecting his prize said, “Wow, I’ve never won anything before, having been with the company for 7 years makes it worthwhile.” Ms. Dingwall was equally happy and said that she had seen the adverts for the promotion but it never crossed her mind that she would win something.

“We are happy that we can bring smiles to our customers, especially in this difficult and trying year,” says Ms. Jennifer Morel, Chief Executive Officer of Sacos. “ There’s 6 more months to go and I wish all our motor policyholders who haven’t won so far good luck and encourages others to take their motor insurance with Sacos.”

Our next draw will take place in the first week of August and again all existing and new private comprehensive and Taxi operators who have a full comprehensive cover with us will enter the draw and one lucky winner will win-back their annual insurance premium, of up to SCR30,000.

Hurry, ensure you buy your new insurance or renew your insurance before the next draw and you can be the winner!

For more information, please contact:
Brigitte Appoo
Head of Sales & Marketing
Sacos Insurance Group
T 429 5000
E brigitte.appoo@sacos.sc

Like many parents, you may currently be contemplating whether to put your child in private or public school. Both are very great options by the way. However, if you are more inclined to choose private school,  the Sacos Education Plan can help to contribute towards the annual tuition fees.

How is that possible, you ask?

Sacos Education Plan has some very unique features, compared to other life insurance plans. These features were especially designed to support parents in providing the best education for their children.

• Survival benefits paid out at intervals
  

The Sacos Education Plan, which is available for terms of 10, 15 or 20 years,  pays out survival benefits (of the sum assured) at intervals. 10% of the sum assured is paid out every year for five years from the last six years of the term taken and 50% of the sum assured is paid out in the last year. This provides parents with an easily available annual cashflow for tuition fees payment.

• Survival benefits matches academic years for Secondary schools
  

Secondary education in Seychelles usually runs for five years. The interval payment of the Sacos Education Plan (10% every year for five years) coincides with the academic years for secondary education. Parents can thus use this insurance plan to fully meet the tuition cost for secondary school.

• Match the survival benefit with the annual tuition fees
  

If the tuition fees are SCR10,000 per term, parents are expected to pay SCR30,000 each year to the school. Parents should ensure that the 10% survival benefits is sufficient to cover the cost of the annual tuition fees. In the above example, the 10% annual survival benefits should be at least SCR30,000 or more in order to cover the full cost of the tuition fees. In the above example, the sum assured needs to be at least SCR300,000 to fully cover the cost of the annual tuition fees every year.

• Schedule your survival benefits in line with tuition fees due date
  

In order for you to meet the due date for the payment of the tuition fees, you have to ensure that the survival benefits are paid in a timely manner. To give yourself some room to breathe and avoid unexpected delays, ensure that the survival benefit is paid out at least two months before the due date for the tuition fees. If the annual fees have to be paid in January, then it is safer to ensure that your first payment is received by November of the previous year.

• Use the remaining 50% for other academic fees

Remember, that you have received 10% of the sum assured each year for five years which have gone towards the private tuition fees for the secondary school. In the example given above, you have received and paid SCR150,000 for tuition fees. You are now left with 50% of the sum assured (SCR300,000) which is paid out in the last year (the sixth year). With the 50% remaining (which is SCR150,000), you can contribute towards other academic fees that come up, e.g. tuition fees for A’Levels (normally 2 years) or sending your child to college overseas, payment for exam resits or contribution towards university costs(for example application fees, airfares, accommodation etc.).

The Sacos Education Plan was especially designed to help parents meet the cost of education for their children. This ensures that your child is able to make the most out of the opportunities available in life. This plan is also ideal for primary education fees as well as university tuition fees.

The figures above are only indicative, for a substantial quotation, you can complete our request for quote on our website (https://www.sacos.sc/here-for-you/education-plan/) providing us your details, send an email to life@sacos.sc, call us on 4295000 or visit any one of our branches.