Liberty has paid out R6.98-billion in claims last year through its insurance policies.
The company released its claims statistics this week, where more than 31 000 individuals and their beneficiaries were paid out.
In 2022 the company paid out corporate claims to the value of R2.58-billion – this was 25% lower than the 2021 figure.
The insurer stated that the main cause for this was the easing of the Covid-19 pandemic, as over 40% of claims related to clients aged over 55 years old, with the company saying that the distribution of claim amounts paid by age had not changed since 2020.
Liberty revealed that as the world regressed to normalcy post the Covid-19 pandemic, life threatening illness, cancer had re-emerged as the leading cause for claims that were paid out.
According to Liberty, the claims made by its clients had decreased by 31% from 2021, where the company had paid out R10.12-billion in claims.
Liberty’s executive for retail solutions David Jewell said: “The reason for the decrease can be attributed to the reduction in claims arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Claims related to the death of a client decreased by R3.14-billion, highlighting the severity of the pandemic during 2021.
“More specifically, there were only 191 Covid-19 related claims identified in 2022, compared to 1 058 in 2021.
“The significant reduction in Covid-19-related claims signals that the worst of the pandemic is over, however, secondary effects of the pandemic have emerged in the form of chronic illnesses. The long-term effects of Covid-19 will take many years to work their way through claims experience fully.”
The company also stated that the number of retrenchment claims in 2022 were down from 2021 during the peak of the pandemic.
Retrenchment claims made up 4% of all claims, with the most policies being taken out in the major economic hubs of the country with Gauteng making up 52.1% of all retrenchment claims, while KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape also accounted for a sizeable proportion of the total claims related to retrenchment.
Liberty’s lead specialist Tom Crotty said: “Significantly, a high proportion of retrenchment claims were in the 35-44 age bracket, essentially among mid-life professionals.
“The impact of the subdued economy combined with the further economic stress brought on by loadshedding, is affecting businesses across the country. This reflects the effects of a subdued economy on this cohort.”
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