Retirement funds have been at the forefront of discussions regarding unclaimed benefits in South Africa, spotlighting billions in dormant assets. In contrast, insurers have received less attention, even though they face similar issues.

 

In 2022, Neesa Moodley of Bizcommunity highlighted that life insurance holders have R33.5 billion in unclaimed assets. This significant amount is often overshadowed by the higher figures reported by retirement funds and maybe underestimated due to the lack of a legislated definition for "unclaimed benefit" in the insurance sector.

 

To help solve this, the Association for Savings and Investments South Africa (ASISA) has issued a Standard on Unclaimed Benefits that aims to identify trigger events that could suggest assets are unclaimed. While there is still no precise definition provided for an 'unclaimed benefit, this measure underscores the ongoing need for better awareness to ensure beneficiaries can claim what is rightfully theirs.

 

The FSCA Discussion Paper (December 2021) furthermore, reports that ASISA members still had 302,119 products unclaimed and undergoing the tracing process. This substantial figure, valued at R33.42 billion, reflects both the scale of the challenge and importance of ongoing improvement in beneficiary identification and communication.

 

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