Insurance that continues to encourage healthy living

Is life insurance just about purchasing protection for “what if” moments? What if I become ill? What if my child becomes disabled after a car accident? 

Yes, protection against such events is the primary reason life insurance is important, but it can also hold more value in your life than that. Discovery Life’s product range does both: it protects in the most comprehensive way and ensures life can be more rewarding down the line too.

Protecting people’s lives with relevance

To date, Discovery Life has paid out about R36bn in claims that span across its entire product range. During 2020, the total amount paid out to clients was R4.7bn. The business uses objective and proactive claims assessment criteria to innovatively ensure that all relevant claims receive the financial support needed. 

“Discovery Life’s extensive product range has been designed to provide protective cover for a full range of potential life-changing events,” says Daniel Stoch, senior actuarial risk specialist at Discovery Life.

“Any person can be affected by, for instance, the development of disability or severe illness — both of which can affect a person’s ability to earn sufficiently for a household. The death of a loved one, or even the inability to work, is a also life-changing event that can result in financial difficulties.

“Of the total we paid out between January and December 2020, more than R2.2bn has helped support families with life cover payouts. More than R1bn was paid to clients who submitted Severe Illness benefit claims.”

The features attached to this benefit, such as our multiple-claims facility, Early Cancer and Cancer Relapse benefits, and global treatment access ensure the product is relevant and comprehensive. For instance, we paid out R289m in multiple claims in 2020. About 29% of severe illness-related claims were also paid out as second or subsequent claims.

“Also on the higher end of claims payouts during 2020 were against Capital Disability and Income Continuation benefits with more than R797m and R433m respectively,” says Stoch.

“All our claims data shows a need to continue making our Life plan and value-added benefit offerings comprehensive enough to support families, while also keeping them relevant to clients’ needs and affordable enough to maintain.”

Discovery’s life cover offering is also about enhancing people’s lives

“We’ve woven in reward mechanisms that enhance financial security into every product offering. These include features such as upfront premium discounts and the ability to earn your premiums back in cash through PayBacks, as well as the options to select the Cash Conversion benefit, which provides lump-sum payouts in retirement.”

“To date, we have paid out about R8.3bn in PayBack to our clients. Between January and December 2020, clients received R1.1bn in PayBack. 

“When our clients take care of their health by eating well, exercising regularly and completing necessary health checks, they become healthier, even well beyond the point of retirement. This reduces risk for the development of potential conditions such as cancer or cardiovascular conditions, among others — especially later in life when risk for these typically increases. When clients reduce their risk, Discovery Life can reward them for the proactive steps they’ve taken to protect their own health and wellness.”

“We know that this type of system works. In 2020, clients on either a Gold or Diamond Vitality status showed a 63% lower mortality risk than those clients who aren’t engaged with the programme,” says Stoch. “Positive behaviours enhance a person’s state of health and that lowers insurance risk. The benefit is that value can then be shared — in the form of discounted premiums and PayBack that can all contribute to making cover go even further.”

Cover that’s dynamically structured to evolve through the various stages of life can maintain protection that’s relevant to changing needs. Whenever a genuine need arises, access to funds is available. From the outset, policyholders can tailor their cover to take care of their families after life-altering events, and provide for the education of their children through the Global Education Protector benefit.

“We’ve taken the stance that to protect people’s quality of life through insurance, we need to keep a close eye on what needs to be covered as comprehensively as possible. We assess risk based on these dynamic needs and offer cover that can evolve to remain relevant. When cover is relevant, it’s also more valuable — for life,” says Stoch.

Discovery Life Ltd. Registration number 1966/003901/06, is a licensed insurer, and an authorised financial services and registered credit provider, NCR registration number NCRCP3555. Product rules, terms and conditions apply.

This article was paid for by Discovery Life.