Standard Bank life insurer Liberty paid out R12bn in death, disability and income protection claims to more than 120,000 beneficiaries in 2024, it said on Tuesday.
The majority of the claims came from the insurer’s retail business, which paid out R7.35bn to almost 28,900 individuals and their families.
Liberty’s corporate business paid out R2.6bn to close to 11,200 individuals, while its funeral and credit life products paid out R1.99bn.
Liberty’s retail business, which sells policies directly to individuals saw an 11.8% increase in claim payouts compared to the year before.
Almost two-thirds of the claims (64.8%) were paid to men, indicating women were underinsured for life and disability cover, said Liberty’s Kresantha Pillay.
“Over 42% of households are female headed, and often the single income earner. It leaves these families very vulnerable,’ she said. SA women face an estimated insurance shortfall of R15-trillion, she said, citing figures from the Association for Savings and Investment SA.
The retail business reported an increase in claims across all its products, with a particularly steep rise in claims from its lifestyle protection benefits, which increased by 20.4% to R1.2bn.
This trend indicated people were living longer with critical illnesses, partly due to prompt treatment as a result of earlier diagnosis, said Liberty.
Cancer was the leading cause of claims (31.2%), followed by cardiovascular disorders (22.3%), respiratory disorders (5.8%), musculoskeletal disorders (5.5%) and nervous system disorders (5.3%) which together accounted for 70.2% of all claims among all benefits.
“The top causes [of claims] have remained relatively stable despite advances in medicine and the rapid pace of innovation … [highlighting] the complexity of transferring knowledge into practice,” said Liberty chief medical officer Reinhardt Erasmus.
Despite advances in screening tools that enable earlier diagnosis of cancer, many colon and lung cancers are still detected late, he said.
“We still have a lot of work to do in normalising screening and early intervention,’ he said.
Cancer was the leading cause for claims among both men and women.
Breast cancer accounted for 46.9% of the cancer claims from women, while for men the most common cancer was prostate cancer, which accounted for 31.9% of male cancer claims.
Liberty’s corporate business, in which employers provide life cover to their employees, reported that at least 18% of income protection claims came from the financial, professional and support services sectors. There was a high prevalence of claims for psychiatric and neurological disorders in these sectors, it said, suggesting the work environment might be contributing to mental health challenges among employees.
“Factors such as high stress, long working hours, job pressure, and the fast-paced nature of these industries could be key drivers of these mental health issues, said Liberty Corporate Benefits actuarial manager Mangaliso Nxasana.
Liberty said it had received 62,000 applications from clients for two-pot withdrawals from their retirement benefits as of January 2025. It paid R444m to 48,600 approved claimants, and R155.6m to the SA Revenue Service. The two-pot system, introduced in September 2024, allows people to withdraw part of their retirement savings before they retire or resign.
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