Fin24 reports that Discovery's life insurance business, Discovery Life, has paid out a total of R1.5 billion in Covid-19-related claims to date and has flagged that its healthcare worker clients were disproportionately affected.  

In total, Discovery Life paid R1.4 billion towards death claims, R73 million in income-protection benefits, and R14 million in severe illness claims caused by the virus. The insurer released its claims statistics on Monday. It pointed out that, while healthcare workers made up just 4.9% of Discovery Life clients, they accounted for 60% of all Covid-19-related claims. "Healthcare professionals on the frontline are exposed to the virus on a daily basis. It should therefore come as no surprise that healthcare professionals have the highest incidence of Discovery Life's Covid-19 claims out of all occupations," the insurer noted. In terms of gender, male clients accounted for 69% of death claims, despite only making up 54% of Discovery Life’s covered clients. The insurer also revealed that January 2021 was the deadliest month on record as far as Covid-19 was concerned. Sanlam, Momentum Metropolitan and Liberty also recorded their highest claims in January/February. In some instances, these were 60% higher than what insurers witnessed at the peak of the first wave in July 2020.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Londiwe Buthelezi at Fin24

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