Discovery Life pays R11.5 billion in claims, with cancer topping the list of causes

2026-03-19 - 14:41

Annual claim statistics for Discovery Life, a subsidiary of Discovery Limited, show that the company paid at least R11.5 billion in 2025 to clients with the majority of the money going to individual life insurance claims. The company said cancer remains a significant driver of claims. The statistics were released earlier in the week, revealing that 65% of individual life policy payouts were for supporting clients through illness, disability and income loss, and for shared-value payments to manage their health and wellness. “Life insurance is no longer just about what happens when someone dies. More and more, it’s about supporting people while they are still alive, helping them navigate severe illness, disability or income disruption,” said Gareth Friedlander, deputy CEO of Discovery Life. Claims paid in 2025 Discovery Life provides individual and group life cover, health-related benefits and shared-value products. For 2025, R6.9 billion went to individual life insurance claims, R2.4 billion to shared-value payments and R2.2 billion to group risk claims. Out of the R6.9 billion that went to individual life insurance claims, R3.2 billion was paid through life cover benefits, R1.8 billion for severe illness benefits, R987 million for capital disability benefits were paid as lump sums and R684 million was paid through income continuation benefits. The income continuation benefits provide an income when clients can’t work because of a covered illness or disability. “R268 million was paid through additional benefits, including funeral plan cover and the Global Education Protector,” said the insurer. The Global Education Protector covers the cost of education from preschool to tertiary if a parent passes away or suffers a severe illness or disability. Cancer remains a driver of Discovery Life claims “Across the industry, around 20% to 30% of payouts are living benefits. At Discovery Life, 52% of risk payouts now support clients during life, which reflects how life insurance is evolving to provide protection throughout a person’s life,” said Friedlander. “Cancer remains a significant driver of claims, but early detection is rising,” said the insurer. Cancer continues to be a major contributor to claims across all benefits: Almost half (45%) of serious illness claims are because of cancer. About 37% of disability claims come from cancer. Around 28% of life insurance claims are for cancer (only slightly less than heart-related claims at 29%). 11% of income protection claims are due to cancer. On the benefits side: The insurer paid out R1.25 billion to people who stayed healthy. Another R1.16 billion was paid through a retirement benefit that gives people up to their full life cover in 10 yearly payments after age 65. Early detection in cancer lows Discovery Life claims The company noted that since 2022, Severe Illness claims for lower-severity cancers (severity D to G) have increased by 22% annually, compared with an 11% annual increase for higher-severity cancers (severity A to C). “We’re seeing earlier detection in cancers with established screening programmes, including breast, prostate, cervical and colon cancer,” said Dr Deidre Kotze, chief medical officer at Discovery Life. “Early detection dramatically improves outcomes. For example, someone diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer has a five-year survival rate of 96%, while men diagnosed with localised prostate cancer can expect a 99% five-year survival rate.” Severe illness claims The insurance company noted that Discovery Life paid severe illness claims across 215 unique conditions, totaling R1.8 billion, up from R1.54 billion in 2024. “While only 4% of current clients had claimed for severe illness before the year, the 2025 data shows that 22% of severe illness claims were for subsequent events, amounting to R320 million,” said Discovery Life. When it comes to shared-value, the company has has paid R18.8 billion in rewards to clients to date. In 2025 alone, payouts totalled R2.4 billion. “Discovery Life paid more than R67 billion in claims over the past 25 years. Notably, R36 billion of this was paid in the last five years alone, more than the total paid in the previous 20 years combined.”