Reflecting the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, Canadian life and health insurers paid more benefits to more people in 2021 than ever before.
In particular, insurers paid out more than $113 billion in life and health benefits last year, an increase of 17% over 2020 and almost $10 billion more than before the pandemic, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) reports in your report. annual statistical report published on Thursday.
In the report, CLHIA CEO Stephen Frank described 2021 as “the year of economic recovery.”
“Insurers are a proud partner in this, helping employers and their employees get back on their feet, providing flexible and relevant workplace benefits to attract and retain top talent, and helping people plan for retirement,” Frank said in the report.
More than half ($58 billion) of benefits paid were lifetime claims. The record amount compared to about $46 billion a year earlier, an increase of 26%.
Total health insurance benefits were almost $41 billion, also a record and an increase of about $4 billion from the previous year.
Life insurance benefits were similar to the previous year at $14 billion. The report shows that this figure includes $580 million in mental health claims, an increase of 75% from 2019 and 45% from 2020.
Total premiums collected by insurers in 2021 rose to $139 billion, up from $123 billion, or 13%, from the previous year.
The increase was driven by annuity and distributed fund premiums, which increased by approximately 21%, according to the report.
The ban on the deferred sales charge (DSC) structure in segregated funds is expected to take place in 2023, which will be in line with the DSC ban for mutual funds implemented in June last year.
Insurance regulators are also consulting on a potential ban on upfront commissions for segregated funds.
