Cost of Covid-19 for South African life insurers

South African life insurers received 1 985 303 Covid-19-related death claims during the period between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2022. These claims have cost a total of 120.5 billion ZAR (8.3 billion USD).

However, these historic payouts remained insufficient for some families who had to face difficult financial adjustments in addition to the loss of a loved one due to Covid-19.

According to a study conducted by the Association for Savings and Investment in South Africa (ASISA), the 14.3 million employees working in South Africa have life and disability insurance that only covers 45% of their total household insurance needs.