Life insurance that lets you be the change

LIFE INSURANCE THAT LETS YOU BE THE CHANGE

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 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.

Joyce Munyai’s story is an example of the power of the Different Donation. She lost her sight due to cataracts. But she refused to believe that she would die blind. Against all hope, she believed. Her belief paid off - her sight was restored by volunteer ophthalmologists.

Photo credit: Ryan Sobey NMM May 2019 13

on 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 one of the following areas: animal welfare, economic development, educational, health care and humanitarian.

Image credit: CLIC Sargent

One of our current charity partners in the UK is Clic Sargent, which provides specialist support across the UK for children with cancer.

“Understand what you are buying, understand the need for it and buy in a way you want. And on top of that, allow you to make a difference to the world...”

Nigel: I was introduced to Mukesh when he was first considering bringing Different Life to the UK. The idea of doing good through a business drew me in and I wanted to see it succeed.

From where do you draw your inspiration to put in hours and months of hard work to make this concept real?

Mukesh: We truly believe in the purpose of this organisation. We have seen the tangible difference it has made in South Africa and believe that we can make a similar or even deeper impact here.

To make insurance more accessible, we’ve designed our products with the customer in mind. They are engaging, simple and meaningful. Customers can buy them when they want and how they want. The most important thing for us is to truly listen to our customers and then to apply those lessons.

Nigel: It’s not too hard if you’re working with great people, for a good cause, doing things you enjoy. It does however take a lot longer than you ever think it will.

With many years of experience in the life insurance industry, what are some of the things you’ve set out to change with Different Life UK?

Nigel: We’ve tried to make understanding and buying insurance easy. This has proved to be surprisingly hard. We had to question everything and why we do it - it was like going back to school. We’re very pleased with the results.

Mukesh: I think life insurance is largely misunderstood due to unnecessarily complicated products on offer. It becomes somewhat of a grudge purchase. We are trying to change the customer experience so that you understand what you are buying, understand the need for it and buy in a way you want. And on top of that, allow you to make a difference to the world.

Let’s talk about life insurance: why have you devoted your life to working in this industry and what makes it important to you? Should others care more about it more than they do?

Nigel: I didn’t set out to work in life insurance for over 30 years. I became an actuary because I was good with numbers. I always thought that it was a good thing to do, but it took a charity carer to put it into words: “we love insurers, because they mean at a time of crisis loved ones don’t need to worry about money, but can focus on the important things”.

Photo credit: Ryan Sobey

Joyce Munyai is pictured with two siblings who would help her run her errands before her sight was restored.

So yes, I think more people should care more about life insurance, though maybe not for as many of their waking hours as I think about it!

Mukesh: The impact of life insurance is profound. The importance of providing money to families when they have lost their breadwinner cannot be overstated. So yes, anyone with family responsibilities should care about life insurance.

What do you love most about what Different Life UK offers?

Nigel: The geek in me loves that our regulator-prescribed essential information document for customers is all of two pages long. Other companies do the same in 26 pages. It’s evidence of our commitment to simplicity.

Mukesh: The fact is we are essentially starting from a clean slate and building something that we believe is the right thing. Everything we do has been designed with the customer in mind. Added to this is the fact that we’re making a difference to society - it’s hugely rewarding.

How do you see Different Life UK fitting into the ethical business category - especially given the financial services’ reputation as being anything but ethical?

Mukesh: With everything we do, we ask the question of whether we are maximising impact and if we are not, we don’t do it. Living our purpose makes it far more fulfilling for all of us involved in the business. I think a great test is whether I would sell our product to my 76-year-old mother and whether she would buy it. Thankfully she has - without any assistance from me! We must’ve gotten something right.

Nigel: Although I think people who work in life insurance are generally quite ethical, the difficulty comes when it gets too big and complicated for people to see the whole picture. It’s easy to limit your responsibilities to what you’ve been tasked with and disregard the rest. That’s why we’re about keeping Different Life as simple as possible so we can run it ethically and as transparently as possible.

Photo credit: Ryan Sobey

Different Life South Africa supports a number of environmental charities. Projects focus mainly on the conservation of endangered species such as rhino, wild dog and turtles, and also environmental education for children.

Society for Animals in Distress provides pet care education and affordable pet care in under-resourced areas in and around Johannesburg, South Africa.

How do you see Different Life UK impacting the UK?

Mukesh: By donating to charities through our Different Donation, we’ll make a charitable impact to society. By offering life insurance, we‘ll make a social impact. And we hope to inspire other corporates to do something similar. The money being donated is essentially coming from Different Life’s top line. We are getting our customers involved when they buy our products, letting them choose where they want to contribute and keeping them informed of the difference they’ve made.

Nigel: I would very much like to positively impact the lives of a breadwinner’s loved ones at a point of crisis by helping them alleviate the financial demands that could typically arise.

Have you learnt anything surprising since starting work on Different Life UK? If yes, what was this?

Mukesh: We are learning all the time and get continuous feedback from our customers and our partners. We’ve been reassured by people’s desire to make a difference, and to support companies that enable them to do so. One of the main things that we have learned is to be responsive to changes and feedback, and to abandon the things that don’t work. Another important learning is to keep the language and process as clear as possible.

We are mindful of the fact that time and convenience are prized commodities so have worked hard to avoid jargon, complicated products and cumbersome purchase processes. While these learnings aren’t necessarily surprising, they are challenging to execute.

Nigel: Making something simple is really hard.

What words of encouragement do you have for others who may want to start an ethical business venture?

Nigel: If you have a good business idea then have trust in it.

Mukesh: It is important that we always live by the ethical values that we are trying to portray. Customers must feel these values and then they will become part of the movement.

Learn more about Different Life UK in the latest issue of NM Magazine.