For decades, insurance in South Africa’s mass market has been synonymous with funeral cover. It’s what many grew up knowing – a safety net when the worst happens. Funeral cover is trusted, widely adopted, and well-understood. It offers cultural alignment and the dignity of a proper farewell. That’s why Old Mutual’s funeral cover is designed with our customers in mind, offering quick payouts and customisation at its core.
But today, we need to do more than honour the end of life. We need to help protect and provide for the futures of those left behind. As we reflect on Youth Day and the dreams of a new generation, the question becomes clear: How do we shift from simply supporting loved ones during their time of grief by burying their loved ones with dignity, to building inter-generational wealth through underwritten life insurance?
The answer is clear – help customers understand that while funeral cover takes care of today, life insurance protects tomorrow, and all the days that follow. Funeral cover is essential, but life insurance is what changes lives. While funeral cover provides peace of mind at the end, underwritten life cover takes care of those left behind. This means keeping families in their homes, protecting children’s education and ensuring that financial futures don’t end with the passing of a breadwinner. This means a deliberate shift from cover for the inevitable, to cover that unlocks long-term financial prosperity.
To many, underwritten life insurance feels unfamiliar, complex – and in many cases, exclusionary compared to its funeral counterpart. Underwriting, the process that involves health checks and medical declarations, is often seen as a hurdle before it’s understood as a benefit. But this is where education matters.
Medical underwriting is not just a requirement, it’s an opportunity. It allows for lower premiums, more personalised pricing for healthier individuals, and crucially, the ability to detect and manage any health conditions early on, while still getting life cover. It’s an investment in both protection and prevention.
South Africa’s youth is a generation we must protect.
With a median age of just 27.6 years and almost two-thirds of our population under the age of 35 (Stats SA, 2024), South Africa’s future lies with its young people. Many of them are already building families and planning their future. Yet, worryingly, less than 20% of South Africans under 35 have life insurance beyond a funeral policy1.
Delaying life cover costs more. Not just in premiums, but in the missed opportunity for creating inter-generational wealth. They risk losing the window where life cover is most cost-effective and impactful. As people age, premiums increase, health conditions emerge and the opportunity for life insurance eligibility narrows.
Underwritten life insurance offers real financial long-term protection that grows with you. It replaces lost income when the policyholder passes away, covers home loans, pays children’s education, covers debt and offers wealth preservation. Because it’s based on a personal risk profile, it’s often more affordable and better tailored, especially for younger individuals and middle-aged breadwinners. Early underwriting locks in long-term value, lower premiums, broader benefits, and fewer exclusions.
To make medical underwriting more accessible, it must evolve. Several innovations are now making underwritten life cover faster, fairer, and more relevant to the next generation:
- Modular, flexible products: Life cover that adapts as your life does – more cover when you have a child, premium holidays during periods of financial strain or unemployment – resonates with those facing economic uncertainty.
- Instant underwriting: With the help of AI and digital health data, some products offer immediate decisions without medical exams for low-risk individuals. In a world where immediacy has become expected, this matters.
- Simplified underwriting journeys: Streamlined application processes reduce application fatigue and dropout rates, a known barrier for family providers who have time constraints.
Young South Africans are building businesses, raising children, studying, and hustling to do better than the generation before them. Life insurance should be part of that journey, not one day, but now. While it’s affordable, accessible, and has the power to transform lives.
Article credit From funeral to futures: Elevating underwritten Life Insurance in South Africa’s Retail Mass Market