Critical illness claims at Momentum Life Insurance exceeded R1 billion for the first time in 2025, rising by more than 15% year-on-year, according to claims data presented by the insurer during a webinar on 29 May 2026.
Momentum paid R6.88bn in claims during 2025, of which R5.92bn came from its Myriad risk product range. More than R3.9bn was paid in death claims, R602 million in lump-sum disability claims, and more than R310m in income protection claims.
Joretha Bothma, the head of product development, underwriting, and claims at Momentum Life Insurance, said mortality claims have largely normalised after the volatility of recent years, but living-benefit claims were growing much faster.
This was one of the clearest shifts emerging from the claims data: although death claims still account for the largest share of payouts, more of the financial burden is now associated with clients who survive cancer, stroke, cardiac events, or disabling injury and then face sustained pressure through treatment costs, reduced earning capacity, or long-term impairment.
Marie van Schalkwyk, marketing manager at Momentum Life Insurance, said cancer remained the dominant driver of critical illness claims (43%), followed by cardiovascular and nervous system conditions.
Momentum’s largest critical illness claim in 2025 was a R12.9m payout to a 42-year-old man diagnosed with invasive malignant melanoma. The amount was significantly above the insurer’s typical critical illness cover range of R1m to R3m.
Bothma also drew attention to what she described as a protection gap in the mortality data. She said 87% of Momentum clients who died from cancer or cardiovascular conditions in 2025 did not have critical illness cover with the insurer, which suggested that many policyholders may be insured for death but not for the financial consequences of surviving a serious illness.
“The risk is no longer about dying; it’s about surviving a serious illness and the cost of doing so. And that’s why critical illness cover no longer is a nice to have, but genuinely an essential,” she said.
Van Schalkwyk said the critical illness data also showed that serious illness is often not a once-off event. According to the insurer’s figures, 79% of critical illness claims in 2025 were first claims, 16% were second claims, and 5% were third or subsequent claims. This reflected the importance of benefits that can respond more than once over a client’s lifetime.
According to Van Schalkwyk, women accounted for 41% of critical illness claims but tended to claim at younger ages than men. Just over half of female critical illness claims were cancer-related, with breast cancer the leading cause, while prostate cancer was the most common cancer among men. Cardiovascular conditions accounted for 29% of male critical illness claims.
Largest death claim
Momentum’s largest South African death claim in 2025 was R125m. The claim related to a 71-year-old business owner who died following a stroke, with the payout made across four policies, including business assurance and individual cover accumulated over many years.
Bothma said Momentum paid 67 death claims above R10m during 2025, representing about 35% of total death claim payouts. She said these figures increasingly reflected the realities of estate liquidity requirements, business continuity planning, and income replacement, rather than unusually large sums assured.
Cardiovascular conditions and cancer accounted for 63% of all death claims, making them the leading causes of death across both genders.
Van Schalkwyk said cardiovascular conditions moved back into first place ahead of cancer for women, while men showed a significantly higher proportion of unnatural deaths. She said unnatural causes accounted for 14% of male death claims, compared with 6% of female death claims.
She also highlighted the concentration of unnatural deaths among younger policyholders. According to Momentum’s figures, 62% of death claims for clients under 30 resulted from unnatural causes, mainly motor vehicle accidents, which she said was five times higher than the rate for clients aged 30 and older.
Van Schalkwyk said the data challenged the assumption that younger, healthier adults have relatively little need for life cover.
“While youth comes with confidence and a sense of freedom, life remains unpredictable. Having the right protection in place ensures that loved ones are supported if the unexpected occurs,” she said.
The youngest individual for whom a death claim was honoured in 2025 was a 25-year-old woman who succumbed to a uterine rupture.
Momentum’s figures showed that although accidental deaths declined by 13% compared with 2024, accidents as a cause of death increased by 10% and accounted for 49% of all unnatural death claims.
Terminal illness claims increase
Momentum also reported an increase in terminal illness claims. These benefits allow a death claim to be paid while the insured life is still alive, provided strict criteria are met, including a terminal diagnosis, no reasonable prospect of recovery, and a life expectancy of less than 12 months.
Momentum paid 50 terminal illness claims in 2025, amounting to R211m, a 30% increase on the previous year. Van Schalkwyk said 90% of these claims were linked to cancer, with digestive system cancers featuring prominently. Two-thirds of terminal illness claimants were male, and most claims occurred among clients older than 50.
Van Schalkwyk said the figures reinforced the financial importance of serious-illness cover before death occurs, particularly where disease progression creates prolonged financial strain for clients and their families.
Disability and income protection draw attention to earning-capacity risk
Nafeesa Gaida, the head of claims at Momentum Life Insurance, said cancer accounted for 27% of disability claims and musculoskeletal conditions for 24%, with neurological and other conditions making up the balance. Claims were concentrated among clients aged 50 to 59, although disability risk was not confined to later life.
The insurer’s most significant South African disability claim involved a 47-year-old environmental scientist and business owner diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, peripheral neuropathy, and epilepsy. The client became unable to meet the physical and cognitive demands of his occupation and was assessed as occupationally disabled.
Musculoskeletal conditions accounted for 33% of income protection claims, while cancer accounted for 13%, nervous system conditions for 12%, and psychiatric conditions for 9%. Many of these claims involved conditions that were not necessarily catastrophic but still prevented clients from working and earning an income for extended periods.
“If a client doesn’t have income protection, they need to be comfortable carrying that level of risk themselves,” she said.
Gaida said the insurer’s largest income protection claim involved a 67-year-old surgeon diagnosed with stage-two adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus. The claim generated R5.9m in payments during 2025. She said the case illustrated how serious illness can create major financial consequences even where a client returns to some level of work.
Permanent income protection claims accounted for about 49% of monthly income protection payments. For men, musculoskeletal conditions accounted for 40% of permanent income protection claims, while for women they accounted for 23%, followed by cancer, nervous system conditions, and psychiatric conditions.
Longer survival means longer claims journeys
Momentum recorded 59 newly triggered longevity claims on the critical illness side during 2025, while 30 claims reached their first longevity payout date. The disability side recorded 22 new longevity claims and 12 that became payable at five-year intervals. Cancer remained the leading cause of these longevity claims, followed by nervous system conditions.
Bothma said the longer-term pattern was increasingly important: more clients were surviving serious illnesses and disabling conditions but continued to face financial costs over time rather than through a single once-off event.
Momentum said 377 clients received payments from multiple benefit categories in 2025. According to Bothma, the 10 highest multiple-benefit claimants received average cumulative payouts of about R25m each, while more than R930m has been paid in claims where multiple benefits came into play.
She cited the example of a 47-year-old client who suffered a stroke resulting in permanent neurological impairment and had already received close to R68m in claim payments over two years.
