Life insurers
Life insurers report big spike in fraudulent death claims
Industry body says more than a billion rand’s worth of claims were rejected in 2017
Life insurers rejected R1.13bn worth of “fraudulent and dishonest claims” in 2017, with dishonest death claims more than doubling in value from 2016, according to the industry body representing insurers in SA. In November, Momentum came under immense public scrutiny for rejecting a life policy payout to the widow of hijack victim Nathan Ganas. The insurer said that Ganas, who was shot dead in a hijacking at his home, had failed to disclose high blood sugar and because of the non-disclosure would reject the claim. A public outcry forced Momentum to create a new product that would compensate qualifying victims of violent crime.
A total of 316 claims were rejected in 2017 for non-disclosure or misrepresentation, the Association for Savings and Investment SA (Asisa) has revealed. Asisa represents the majority of SA’s asset managers, collective investment scheme management companies, linked investment service providers, multi-managers, and life insurance companies. The industry bod...
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