Misleading Sales & Refusal to Adjust Policy – Deeply Disappointed with Different Life

I took out a life policy with Different Life in 2018 for R1 million. During the application process, I explicitly asked the consultant whether the policy would be inflation-linked. I was assured that it was. It’s now 2025, and I’m paying R427/month – but the cover is still R1 million.

When I contacted Different Life to query this, I was told that inflation-linking was not even an option in 2018 – directly contradicting what the consultant told me. I asked to upgrade the policy so that it would increase with inflation going forward, and was told the request was declined and that no changes can be made to the policy.

It doesn’t end there. The consultant also told me that for a small additional premium, I would get an extra R1 million terminal illness cover – paying out if diagnosed with less than a year to live, in addition to the main policy paying out upon death. Again, not true.

I’ve now been paying for 7 years, with the premium increasing annually – but the payout amount has stayed exactly the same. If this trend continues, by 2044 I’ll be paying R1290/month for the same R1 million cover, which will be severely devalued by inflation and effectively worthless.

Even worse – based on the misinformation I received, I encouraged my husband to take a policy with Different Life too. And once again, the same issue: premiums increasing, cover stagnant. When we asked to adjust the policy, again we were told no.

The response from Different Life? A cold "sorry, that’s how it is."

This is unacceptable. We were misled at the point of sale, and we are now locked into rigid policies with no value growth. I am extremely disappointed in the lack of accountability and customer care. Different Life has lost our trust.