Mortality rate after Covid is lower than expected

Mortality rates after the pandemic have been lower than expected, and long-term effects of Covid are not impacting lives as much as feared, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance’s MD & CEO N S Kannan said. He expects reinsurance companies, which had hiked rates and reduced exposure, to return with lower pricing.

Covid and the surge in mortalities in the second year of the pandemic had led to many international reinsurers hiking their rates. Some had even withdrawn from the market in the wake of the second wave of the coronavirus. At the same time, the pandemic resulted in increased awareness of life protection, increasing demand for new insurance policies and improving the persistence of those who had already bought cover.

“As far as health outcomes (of the pandemic) are concerned, there may not be enough research right now. But in terms of deaths, the mortality variance in our embedded value is positive,” said Kannan. This means that death claims during the period have been lower than expected.