Short-Term Insurance Act, 1998 (Act No. 53 of 1998)1. Definitions |
| (1) | In this Act, unless the context otherwise indicates— |
"accident and health policy"
means a contract in terms of which a person, in return for a premium, undertakes to provide policy benefits if a disability, health or death event, contemplated in the contract as a risk event occurs, and includes a reinsurance policy in respect of such a contract—
| (a) | excluding any contract— |
| (i) | that provides for the conduct of the business of a medical scheme referred to in section 1(1) of the Medical Schemes Act; or |
| (ii) | of which the policyholder is a medical scheme registered under the Medical Schemes Act and which contract— |
| (aa) | relates to a particular member of the scheme or to the beneficiaries of such member; and |
| (bb) | is entered into by the medical scheme to fund in whole or in part its liability to the member or the beneficiaries of the member referred to in subparagraph (aa) in terms of its rules; but |
| (b) | specifically including, despite paragraph (a)(i), any category of contracts identified by the Minister by regulation under section 70(2A) as an accident and health policy; |
"Authority"
means the Financial Sector Conduct Authority established by the Financial Sector Regulation Act;
"conduct standard"
has the same meaning ascribed to it in terms of section 1(1) of the Financial Sector Regulation Act;
"death event"
means the event of the life of a person or an unborn having ended;
"disability event"
means the event of the functional ability of the mind or body of a person or an unborn becoming impaired;
"engineering policy"
means a contract in terms of which a person, in return for a premium, undertakes to provide policy benefits if an event contemplated in the contract as a risk relating to—
| (a) | the possession, use or ownership of machinery or equipment, other than a motor vehicle, in the carrying on of a business; |
| (b) | the erection of buildings or other structures or the undertaking of other works; or |
| (c) | the installation of machinery or equipment, |
occurs; and includes a reinsurance policy in respect of such a policy;
means the Financial Sector Regulation Act, 2017;
"guarantee policy"
means a contract in terms of which a person, other than a bank, in return for a premium, undertakes to provide policy benefits if an event, contemplated in the policy as a risk relating to the failure of a person to discharge an obligation, occurs; and includes a reinsurance policy in respect of such a policy;
"health event"
means an event relating to the health of the mind or body of a person or an unborn;
"independent intermediary"
has the meaning as prescribed in the regulations;
means the Insurance Act, 2017;
"joint standard"
has the same meaning ascribed to it in terms of section 1(1) of the Financial Sector Regulation Act;
"liability policy"
means a contract in terms of which a person, in return for a premium, undertakes to provide policy benefits if an event, contemplated in the contract as a risk relating to the incurring of a liability, otherwise than as part of a policy relating to a risk more specifically contemplated in another definition in this section, occurs; and includes a reinsurance policy in respect of such a policy;
means—
| (a) | a previously registered insurer as defined in item 1 of Schedule 3 to the Insurance Act who has been granted a licence under section 23 of the Insurance Act within the period referred to in item 6.2(2) of Schedule 3 to the Insurance Act; or |
| (b) | a person who has been licensed under section 23 or 24 of the Insurance Act on or after the date on which that Act commenced; |
"long-term insurer"
means a person registered or deemed to be registered as a long-term insurer under the Long-term Insurance Act, 1998;
"Medical Schemes Act"
means the Medical Schemes Act, 1998 (Act No. 131 of 1998);
"Minister"
means the Cabinet member responsible for finance;
"miscellaneous policy"
means a contract in terms of which a person, in return for a premium, undertakes to provide policy benefits if an event, contemplated in the contract as a risk relating to any matter not otherwise defined in this section, occurs; and includes a reinsurance policy in respect of such a policy;
"motor policy"
means a contract in terms of which a person, in return for a premium, undertakes to provide policy benefits if an event, contemplated in the contract as a risk relating to the possession, use or ownership of a motor vehicle, occurs; and includes a reinsurance policy in respect of such a policy;
"official web site"
means a website of the Authority;
"personal lines business"
means short-term insurance business in respect of which the policyholder is a natural person;
"policy benefits"
means—
| (a) | in respect of a registered insurer, one or more sums of money, other than an annuity, or services or other benefits; |
| (b) | in respect of a licensed insurer, benefits to which a person is contractually entitled to under a non-life insurance policy arising from an insurer’s insurance obligations; |
"policyholder"
in respect of a—
| (a) | registered insurer, means the person entitled to be provided with the policy benefits under a short-term policy; |
| (b) | licensed insurer has the meaning assigned to in the Insurance Act; |
"premium"
in respect of a—
| (a) | registered insurer, means the consideration given or to be given in return for an undertaking to provide policy benefits; |
| (b) | licensed insurer has the meaning assigned to in the Insurance Act; |
"property policy"
means a contract in terms of which a person, in return for a premium, undertakes to provide policy benefits if an event, contemplated in the contract as a risk other than a risk more specifically contemplated in another definition in this section relating to the use, ownership, loss of or damage to movable or immovable property occurs; and includes a reinsurance policy in respect of such a policy;
"Register"
means the Financial Sector Information Register referred to in section 256 of the Financial Sector Regulation Act;
means
| (a) | a previously registered insurer as defined in item 1 of Schedule 3 to the Insurance Act for the period between the date on which the Insurance Act commenced and the previously registered insurer’s licence application referred to in item 6(2) of Schedule 3 to the Insurance Act has been granted or not granted; or |
| (b) | for a period of 18 months after the effective date of the Insurance Act as referred to in item 11 of Schedule 3 of the Insurance Act, Lloyd’s or a Lloyd’s underwriter; |
"regulation"
means a regulation under section 70;
"repealed Act"
means the Insurance Act, 1943 (Act No. 27 of 1943);
"representative"
has the meaning as prescribed in the regulations;
"risk"
means a possibility that a particular event may occur during the period for which a short-term policy is operative;
"services as intermediary"
has the meaning as prescribed in the regulations;
"short-term insurance business"
means —
| (a) | in respect of a registered insurer, the business of providing or undertaking to provide policy benefits under short-term policies; |
| (b) | in respect of a licensed insurer, non-life insurance business as defined in section 1 of the Insurance Act; |
"short-term insurer"
means a registered insurer or a licensed insurer;
"short-term policy"
means —
| (a) | in respect of a registered insurer, an engineering policy, guarantee policy, liability policy, miscellaneous policy, motor policy, accident and health policy, property policy or transportation policy or a contract comprising a combination of any of those policies; and includes a contract whereby any such contract is renewed or varied; |
| (b) | in respect of a licensed insurer, a non-life insurance policy as defined in section 1 of the Insurance Act;; |
"short-term reinsurance policy"
means —
| (a) | in respect of a registered insurer, a reinsurance policy in respect of a short-term policy; |
| (b) | in respect of a licensed insurer, a non-life insurance policy written under the reinsurance class of non-life insurance business as set out in Table 1 of Schedule 2 of the Insurance Act; |
"this Act"
includes any regulation made, or matter prescribed under this Act;
"transportation policy"
means a contract in terms of which a person, in return for a premium, undertakes to provide policy benefits if an event, contemplated in the contract as a risk relating to the possession, use or ownership of a vessel, aircraft or other craft or for the conveyance of persons or goods by air, space, land or water, or to the storage, treatment or handling of goods so conveyed or to be so conveyed, occurs; and includes a reinsurance policy in respect of such a policy;
"Tribunal"
means the Financial Services Tribunal established in terms of section 219 of the Financial Sector Regulation Act;
"unborn"
means a human foetus conceived but not born.
| (2) | For the purposes of entering into a short-term policy the life of an unborn shall be deemed to begin at conception. |
| (3) | Unless the context otherwise indicates, words and expressions not defined in subsection (1) have the same meaning ascribed to them in terms of the Financial Sector Regulation Act or Insurance Act. |
| (4) | A reference to statutory actuary in this Act must be construed as a reference to the head of the actuarial control function appointed by a short-term insurer in accordance with the Insurance Act. |
[Section 1 substituted by item 2 of Schedule 1 of GG 41388, Act No. 18 of 2017, dated 18 January 2018 - effective 1 April 2018]