Official mortality figures for the second COVID-19 wave which began in late 2020 have already exceeded those of the first wave meaning that it is most likely funeral claims will increase as well.
During the peak of the first wave of the COIVD-19 pandemic between June and September 2020, Liberty found itself having to manage a substantial spike in mortality claims of around 200% above normal levels.
This increase was expected, and the company had earlier in the year set in motion a series of emergency plans to deal with the surge as the full extent of the global pandemic became clear.
As things turned out, the spike in claims coincided almost exactly with the sudden rise in the number of COVID-19 related deaths observed during the middle of the year by the South African Medical Research Council.
"We knew from predictions issued by government and global health bodies, as well as our own research and modelling, that there would be a spike in COVID-19 related deaths as the disease took hold in South Africa. The implications for us as an insurer were obvious straight away. The unavoidable fact was that we would be dealing with a lot more mortality claims," says Gontse Sekhitla, Lead Specialist: Risk Product Development at Liberty Corporate.
An emergency operational management team was convened to figure out how the company would respond and what resources would be needed to meet the demand of the growing claims.
To get a handle on the bigger picture, a Liberty war room was formed where automated daily reports of funeral and death claims were processed and managed.
It was clear from the beginning that additional capacity was going to have to be added, considering the scientific projections of the progress of COVID-19.
"One of the first steps we took was to employ temporary extra staff and extend the working hours of the claims team. We got involved in training a bigger operations and servicing team on mortality claims as well."
"For example, one of our goals was the transfer of money to claimants' bank accounts within 3 hours of authorisation. This makes a big difference to families who have experienced a death from COVID-19. It means they can get on with the funeral arrangements by giving their loved ones a dignified send-off without having to deal with the added trauma of lengthy administration."
All of this was sometimes easier said than done given that the country was in the middle of a pandemic, and the company had to deal with load shedding which inevitably lead to connectivity issues.
"We decided to move between 5 and 10 staff on site to the Liberty Buildings to mitigate this risk. We also invested in UPS power banks for our claims team to maintain service levels to cope with the number of claims.
"Keeping abreast with the Government publications, South African Medical Research Council updates, press reports and hospital admissions, as well as the feedback we got from some of our clients really aided us in our planning," says Sekhitla.
The measures put in place proved to be highly successful, with almost 100 percent of claims being dealt with quickly and according to the planned timelines so that bereaved families could have comfort.
"Our planning worked out well. It seemed like we were really going into the unknown at one stage, but we are pleased to have been able to honour our commitments and to have assisted those families affected during the first COVID-19 surge in 2020," says Sekhitla.
"Currently South Africa is experiencing a second wave, and it would be fair to say our experiences during the first wave has equipped us in dealing with another surge in mortality. A lot of the learnings we experienced during the first wave will hopefully be to the benefit of clients."