"No, getting vaccinated won’t invalidate your insurance policy," say Wendy Knowler

NO, getting vaccinated won’t invalidate your insurance policy!

As if reality wasn’t bad enough - Level 3 restrictions, vaccine roll-out wobbles, loadshedding… social media is full of myths around the vaccine…

So much so that this week the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) issued a media statement saying that social media posts warning that getting the Covid-19 vaccine will render your life insurance policy as “null and void” because the vaccines are regarded as ‘experimental medicine” have no merit, ie they are fearmongering rubbish.

Managing executive Absa Life, Eugene Strauss, told me that there were quite a few life insurance vaccine myths doing the round, including:

*If I get vaccinated and I pass away as a result of complications from vaccinations my death claim will be repudiated because the vaccinations are not recognized as having gone through a full trial period?  NO!

 
*If I do not get vaccinated, will my claim will be declined if I pass away from Covid?  NO!

READ MORE: Edgars account chaos: A checklist of how to go about the closure procedure

Also this week, someone asked me: “Do you have any information on the rumour that medical aids will require vaccination for continued cover?”

I very much doubted that, but asked independent financial advisor & accredited healthcare consultant Alison Botes to confirm.

“This is most definitely not correct at present,” she said.
“Medical Schemes are required by law to cover PMBs; they cannot exclude cover due to non vaccination of a virus. 
Also, let’s be honest, how long is it going to be for all willing parties to be vaccinated, never mind the ”antivaxers”?
 
“In order for such an exclusion to be valid, the Medical Schemes Act would have to be amended, and I can’t see that happening, as forcing people to be vaccinated would surely go against the Constitution.

Wendy has a chat with the Darren, Keri and Sky about this matter: 

Pink is for pretty girls, blue is for brave boys. Really? Still?


Many of us saw the photo on Twitter last week of two Clicks brand hair detangling products, selling side by side, one for girls - packaged in pink, of course, and the other for boys, with slightly shorter plastic “bristles” packaged in blue for boys.

In large print on the pink box, the product was described as being for “pretty girl” and right next to it, the product in the blue box was described as being “for brave boy”.

Typically such gender stereotyping focuses on girls’ or women’s looks and conversely on boy’s abilities or character.

And that has a major impact on how girls, and the women they grow up to be, view their place in the world; he careers they seek out, the money they feel they should spend to preserve or enhance their looks.

READ MORE: WATCH: Gender-reveal party causes "earthquake"

Such gender stereotyping, particularly in the toy aisles, although much improved, is said to be one of the reasons why worryingly few women graduate in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths.

It’s not a stretch to suggest that packing the girl aisles with pink princessy dress-up stuff and kitchen sets, and the boy aisles with science kits, cars and robots could be where the conditioning starts.

But these hair products went way beyond pretty girls and brave boys.
The thing which had the Twitterverse up in arms was the price discrepancy.

R40 for the girl’s brush and just R14 for the boys’ one - virtually identical products.

That’s about as extreme an example of “pink tax” as you’re likely to get.

READ MORE: World Consumer Rights Day: The Best of Consumerwatch

RESPONSE from Group Corporate Affairs Director at Clicks, Bertina Engelbrecht:

“At Clicks, we do not endorse gender stereotyping of any sort. There are however many products in the market that reference gender such as deodorants, grooming products, etc. 

“We thank customers for making us aware of this oversight and apologise for the offense caused.

We have adopted the following price parity policy:

 *   We support pricing parity that does not differentiate by gender and does not seek to exploit consumers based on their gender. Gender stereotyping goes against our style guide and company values.
 *   We acknowledge that pricing differentials may occur during promotional periods or as a consequence of markdowns and commit to addressing any such differentials as soon as we become aware thereof.

“Our investigation into this matter has revealed that one of these items - THE BRAVE BOYS ONE - were recently discontinued. The rate of sale of the discontinued product resulted in the markdown % and a resultant difference in the price. In accordance with our policy, we have taken immediate steps to remove both items from shelf and earmarked them for donation.”

Contact Wendy

Get in touch with Wendy via her website or her Facebook page. Please note that Wendy is not able to personally respond to every email she receives. If she is able to take up your case, she will contact you directly. Here are other avenues for you to consider.

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Main Image Courtesy: Pixabay