LONDON: A coronavirus pandemic which lasts five years, another pandemic in a decade, and ever more transmissible variants are among the scenarios life insurers are predicting after Covid-19 claims jumped more than expected in 2021.
The global life insurance industry was hit with reported claims due to Covid-19 of US$5.5bil (RM22.98bil) in the first nine months of 2021 versus US$3.5bil (RM14.62bil) for the whole of 2020, according to insurance broker Howden in a report on Jan 4, while the industry had expected lower payouts due to the rollout of vaccines.