South Africans are claiming insurance benefits while they are still alive. According to Discovery Life, about 65% of its claims payments now go toward “survival benefits.”
The shift towards critical illness cover, disability benefits and income protection is significant compared to the death-claims-weighted payments of previous years.
Discovery Life paid out R11.5 billion in claims in 2025, part of R36 billion over the previous five years. The insurer processed 9,298 claims last year at a payout rate of more than 99%. Claims were rejected in a small number of cases: 0.4% of rejections involved non-disclosure, 0.15% involved misrepresentation and 0.15% involved fraud.
“Trying to break that narrative life insurance is for death “This is very important,” says Kashmira Kanji, head of distribution strategy and market analytics at Discovery Life. “We see claims from people of all ages; Death is not just a matter of old age. This happens across the board.
claim more than once
One of the most visible changes in claims patterns is the increase in the number of policyholders making more than one claim. As medical treatments improve, more people are surviving serious health events like heart attacks, strokes, and cancer—but those same individuals may suffer further complications later on.
“People who survive serious illness are more likely to experience another medical event,” says Gareth Friedlander, deputy CEO of Discovery Life. “It's purely because the drug is really good for life.”
In 2025, Discovery paid R320 million to several claimants. Customers who submitted critical illness claims before 2025 made up 4% of its risk pool, but accounted for nearly a quarter of all critical illness claims last year.
Friedlander says the likelihood of making a repeat claim after the first claim is about 600% higher than average. “You may see some customers on their third claim, their fourth claim or more. We have one customer with 21 claims on one policy. We're seeing a greater prevalence of people making claims multiple times,” he says.
Friedlander says this is the main thing importance of insurance. “When you're talking about the massive journey of heart attacks and strokes and cancer and these attacks that a serious illness has on a family, you can understand how underinsured South Africans are,” he adds.
low insurance margin
There is considerable variation in life and critical illness insurance in South Africa. The Association for Savings and Investments South Africa (ASISA) has calculated that if households were to maintain their standard of living after the “death event”, the collective shortfall for the average earner is R21.1 trillion – or R3.1 million.
The disability gap is still large. Nationally, R48.6 trillion cover would be required to maintain living standards after the occurrence of disability, while actual cover is R19.4 trillion. Critical illness cover is the most neglected. ASISA data shows that 85% of South African earners have no one.
an average south african To ensure that his or her family can maintain their standard of living, the breadwinner must have about R2.1 million – and the average death insurance gap is about R1.3 million.
In the case of a disability event, the average South African will need to provide R3 million in cover, and ASISA says that is an average gap of around R1.8 million.
Who is making the claim and why
Discovery's data shows that heart and artery disease and cancer are the leading causes of claims for people age 65 and older. For the 30 to 50 age group, motor vehicle accidents are the most common cause of unnatural death. According to Discovery's five-year data, men are three times more likely than women to die in a fatal motor vehicle crash.
Among those aged 51 to 60, 36% of unnatural deaths are due to suicide. The overall rate has declined – from 35% to 27% – which the discovery partly attributes to mental health interventions, including cost-free counseling programs.
“The suicide rate has reached down from last year. “It has moved in the right direction, but is still at a level where we are concerned,” says Sylvia Steyn, head of claims and services at Discovery Life.
what consumers want
The change in living wage is also consumer-driven. The Capgemini World Life Insurance Report 2026, conducted jointly with the Life Insurance Marketing & Research Association, found that 68% of adults under 40 consider life insurance essential to a healthy financial future, but the current offering does not align with their financial priorities, hindering adoption.
Young consumers cite misalignment with their current stage in life, high premium costs and lack of immediate benefits as the main barriers to purchasing, the Capgemini report said.
Capgemini says people under 40 want living benefits that provide financial flexibility during life events, support for well-being and support during critical illness.
Global life insurance premium estimates grow at only 0.9% According to the same report, the compounded annual growth through 2040 insuretechdigital reflects the scale of the industry's challenge in remaining relevant to the next generation of policyholders.
This is in line with Discovery's shared-value model, which rewards policyholders for healthier and more financially responsible behavior through lower premiums, cashback and product discounts. In 2025, Discovery paid R1.25 billion in paybacks and R1.16 billion in cash conversion benefits – this money is paid to customers who are alive and engaged, not claiming death benefits.
The longest period a Discovery policy had before a death claim was approximately 25 years. The youngest was 29 days old.
personal Finance