LIFE INSURAN
THAT LETS YOU BE T
CHANG Nigel Bradshaw and Mukesh Mittal are the founders of a life insurance company with heart. In a sector which has gained an unfortunate reputation for lack of transparency and accountability, this company is setting out to change this. Why did you choose to start this company and how did you get to this point? Mukesh: I was working with the founders of Different Life South Africa at concept stage. They were building a company with a clear purpose to “maximise impact” - making a real difference to society. This is not an idealistic concept but something that we have put into practice. Offering life insurance not only makes an important social impact but gives us the funding through the “Different Donation” to make
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May 2019 NMM
a charitable impact. The social impact is to provide some level of protection to families when they lose a parent, breadwinner or loved one. With the Different Donation, one month’s premium every year is donated to charitable causes. Our customers get to choose a charity that they would like to support from a number of charities that we are partnering with. This comes at no additional cost to them as the donation is paid from the premium which otherwise would have gone into the company
bottom line. Our customers become instant philanthropists. Different Life South Africa has raised nearly R13 million in 4 years. This is a significant sum in local terms that has enabled the funding of over 80 charity projects. We find this encouraging and look forward to creating the same kind of impact in the UK. We’re currently partnering with Rosemere Cancer Foundation, CLIC Sargent and CRMI Children of Hope, and are eager to bring on board a few more charity partners. We want to partner with at least one charity focusing on
