Momentum pays out R1.4bn for Covid-19-related death claims
MOMENTUM Life Insurance paid out almost R1.4 billion for 842 Covid-19-related death claims by July, an indication of the severity of the second and third waves of the pandemic.
Claims so far this year show a steep increase compared with last year.
Jenny Ingram, the insurer’s head of product development, said of the R5.5bn in claims paid last year, more than R370 million were for 217 Covid-19-related death claims.
Ingram said respiratory death claims, in which Covid-19 was categorised, formed the third-highest number of claims last year, representing 19 percent of Momentum’s death claims.
The top two reasons for death claims last year were cardiovascular disease (28 percent) followed by cancer (25 percent).
Although respiratory complications represented only 19 percent of total death claims, Momentum had seen a dramatic increase of 145 percent from the previous year, adding that “this increase is directly linked to Covid-19”, Ingram said.
She said most Covid-19-related death claim payouts were for clients older than 60 years.
“Although most of those clients who passed away were old enough to retire, we cannot ignore the fact that our youngest client to pass away from Covid-19 was only 31 years old. The virus does not discriminate. However, based on evidence from our claims experience relating to clients in the healthcare profession, it is clear that a vaccination is our best solution to the Covid-19 problem,” said Ingram.
Last year, high-value death claims of R10m or more almost doubled from the year before.
The largest Covid-19 death claim paid out by Momentum last year was R70m. The client, who was otherwise healthy and in his sixties, contracted the virus 18 days after his policy started, and passed away a month later.
“Thanks to the life cover he had in place, his family and business was financially secure after he passed away,” said Ingram.
Ingram said most claims were from Gauteng, at 41 percent, followed by Kwazulu-natal and the Western Cape, each with 10 percent of claims.
Ingram said that as the country battled the impact of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, statistics clearly indicated that the fear of contracting the virus had prevented many people from consulting their doctors or specialists regarding treatment for the most prevalent chronic diseases in the country: cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases.
She said this trend was also highlighted by the Hospital Association of South Africa, which mostly represents private hospitals.
Globally, the number of new oncology patient registrations had decreased by 50 percent year-on-year
during periods when Covid-19 infections had increased sharply in countries with established oncology care programmes. “In all likelihood, this will result in an unusual increase in the number of claims for critical illnesses going forward,” Ingram said.
Momentum Life Insurance paid 902 Covid-19-related income protection claims to a total value of more than R20m from March last year to
July this year.
Ingram said one thing remained certain: getting vaccinated was the best thing any South African could do to protect their families, themselves and the nation’s economy.
“Our claims experience proves firsthand that the vaccines work. Every jab enables the continuation of our journeys to success. Every push of the syringe enables life.”