Young South Africans don't value life cover

Published on 28 September 2010

by In-house Writer

Insurance news publication ITI News recently reported that a troubling number of young adults don't deem life insurance cover to be a worthwhile expense. Citing life insurance claims statistics presented by PPS, a prominent South African insurance company, the publication highlighted the fact that 18 to 30 year olds are statistically most likely to die as a result of a car accident or related injuries.

According to PPS Corporate Actuary Chris de Klerk, the key problem is that the vast majority of people in this age group are also the ones most likely to be under-insured against loss of life or permanent disability. De Klerk pointed out that young people frequently deem life cover to be a pointless expense based on the fact that they don't consider it likely to die from a critical illness.

However, according to PPS' life insurance claims statistics between 2006 and 2009, 64% of all life cover claims were the result of car accident related deaths. Disturbingly, 54% of such claims were from policyholders under the age of 30 years.

De Klerk also highlighted that the younger demographic categories were also most at risk from extreme sports activities such as diving, bungee jumping, quad biking and kite boarding, each carrying the risk of death due or disablement due to accidental injury.

Although the recently released SA crime statistics suggest that fewer people are dying at the hands of criminals in South Africa, crime and violence were the second highest contributing factor to life insurance claims being submitted against PPS' life policies, mainly due to hijackings and crime related assault.

If people in this age category were to die or become permanently disabled in a car accident, the financial effects could be devastating for their young families or parents relying on them for financial support.

Read more South African life insurance news articles here.

Resource: ITI News