The non-life insurance sector in South Africa, more commonly known as the short-term insurance industry, has arguably experienced its most challenging three years. Although provision was made for possible disasters such as fire and flooding, there were several unexpected events that turned the industry upside down. The Global Claims Review, conducted by Allianz Global Corporate […]
PPS Life Insurance paid Covid-19-related claims of R1.4 billion in 2021, which was 36% higher than in 2020, when claims were 45% up from 2019, the mutual insurer said in its annual report for the year to the end of December 2021. PPS paid out R975 million in Covid death claims and R424m in Covid […]
A very popular management guide, Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun, written by Wess Roberts in the late 1980s, contained reflections on leadership that formed the core of many a management course. Some of these may well apply in today’s business world. “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is […]
Some 60% of South Africans report having an insurance product, and insurance penetration, measured using premiums as a percentage of GDP, was 13.7% in 2020 – one of the highest in the world, out-ranking the US and the UK, according to the FSCA’s 2022 Financial Sector Outlook Study, which was released last week. But these […]
The South African insurance industry is a vital socio-economic sector that provides a critical safety net to society. This was crystalised in 2021 as we continued to grapple with the fallout from the pandemic and the implications of the disease for the short-term insurance market. Business interruption claims One of the industry’s highest priorities in […]
Santam paid out R24.5 billion (2020: R21bn) in claims last year, the highest gross claims pay-out in its 104-year history, the country’s biggest short-term insurer said in its financial results for the year to the end of December 2021. Despite the big claims pay-out, Santam’s earnings rose to R2.75bn, compared to R327 million in 2020, […]
Events over the past year, both locally and internationally, have shifted the focus on a number of material terms and conditions in policy documents. Pre- and post-Covid A media release published in November 2019 by Santam saw the challenging economy as the biggest risk in the country. “The in-depth body of research showed the biggest […]
The systemic nature of cyber risk provides intermediaries with an unprecedented opportunity to show-case their value to clients, Andrew Coutts, Santam’s head of Intermediated Distribution, told the recent InsureTalk18 online conference. It is difficult to insure and re-insure against something that happens everywhere at the same time, such as a pandemic, climate change, political instability […]
Short-term insurance intermediaries who want to remain relevant will have to evolve from being insurance facilitators to professional risk advisers. This one of the key take-outs from Santam’s 2021 Insurance Barometer. “Much of the traditional role of the intermediary was to sell generic products that would transfer risk away from their clients. However, the escalation […]
Last year’s High Court judgment involving Constantia Insurance Company’s Prime Living CoverGrow and Prime Living Legacy policies had a sequel before the Financial Services Tribunal in October, when it was asked to reconsider the decision by the Prudential Authority (PA) on how these policies should be dealt with. The High Court’s ruling arose from Constantia […]
