Clientele Life Insurance 2026 Review

Clientele's defining feature is that NO medical underwriting is required, ever. This makes it the easiest SA life insurer for applicants with health conditions that would trigger loadings or declines at full-underwriting insurers (Liberty, Sanlam, Discovery). Trade-off: cover is capped at R200,000 per life — meaningfully lower than the R5m+ available from underwritten insurers.

Entry premiums start from around R210/month for low cover amounts. For a 35-year-old paying R210/month, you might receive R20,000-R50,000 cover. The price-per-Rand-of-cover is higher than fully-underwritten insurers because Clientele takes more risk (no medicals) and prices accordingly.

Clientele's flagship reward: you receive a cashback payment every 60 premiums paid (i.e. every 5 years). The cashback amount depends on the specific policy and premium level. It is a savings element built into the cover.

Clientele policies escalate premiums by approximately 10% per annum but the cover amount typically escalates by only 6% annually. Over time, your real cover erodes — at 4% annual gap compounded, R100,000 cover in year 1 becomes R49,500 in real terms by year 18 (in today's Rand). Worth reviewing the cover trajectory before committing.