Thabo, 26, runs a small car wash with two of his childhood friends. On a good week, the trio brings in R3,000 in total. However, on a bad week, often caused by rain, an unreliable supplier or if one of the partners gets sick, they earn nothing.
He has tried to get funeral cover twice, and both times he kept up with payments for a few months. But both times, life happened, a difficult stretch meant he missed a few debit orders and lost his cover, and had to start again — at a higher price.
“I want to protect my family, but the way funeral policies work, it feels like they are not built for people like me with an irregular income,” Thabo thinks.
Thabo is not alone in this predicament. Across South Africa, millions of people whose incomes do not arrive in a neat monthly salary have found themselves locked out of financial products designed for a different economic reality.
These can be domestic workers whose hours vary, gig workers, small business owners whose sales dip in January, or young people hustling between piece jobs while looking for something permanent.
People rarely decide to cancel their funeral cover; however policies lapse because life is unpredictable and one missed payment becomes two. They tell themselves they will catch up the next month, but by the time they realise what has happened, it is too late, and they lose their cover.
Metropolitan’s head of protection solutions Luke Nel explains that policy lapses rarely mean customers have stopped valuing their cover.
“What we see instead is that life happens. Income fluctuates, unexpected expenses arise and people go through difficult seasons.
“The challenge is that traditional insurance products have not always reflected the realities of how many South Africans earn and manage their money,” says Nel.
No-Lapse designed with this in mind
Metropolitan’s new No-Lapse Funeral Growth Plan was designed for exactly this reality; and the company is aware that many in this market have been let down in the past.
“We know that many people in this market have had bad experiences. This product was built to remove the reasons that distrust exists; not to ask customers to simply take our word for it,” Nel explains.
How the policy works
You sign up on WhatsApp in three to five minutes and your cover begins with your very first payment of as little as R200. You then have up to 12 months to contribute a total of R1,500 and once you reach that amount, your cover is permanently secured.
Consider Zanele, who is 25 years old and is currently between jobs and hustling where she can. Financial products have never felt accessible to her: no financial adviser, no formal income and definitely no clear starting point.
The No-Lapse plan requires none of that. She can start on her phone today and build from there, at her own pace, whenever her budget allows.
Every top-up she makes grows her cover. A 25-year-old gets more than R1,300 cover with their first R200 payment. The next R200 top-up buys another R1,300 cover. By the time she contributed R1,500, her cover is already more than R10,000, secured for life. Contributing R5,000 sees her cover grow to over R35,000.
If you are 35 years old, that same R1,500 delivers R6,000 in cover and even at 45 years old, R1,500 still buys R4,000 in additional permanent cover. Whenever you start, your family still benefits.
A few difficult months should not erase years of responsible financial behaviour
— Luke Nel, Metropolitan’s head of protection solutions
And if life becomes difficult again? Secured cover stays active for life, even if top-ups stop. As soon as you can top up again, cover growth continues.
There is also a safety net built in for people who start but cannot quite reach the R1,500 threshold in the 12 months. In this case, Metropolitan pays back 60% of everything you contributed. You can use that to start again — and your progress carries over.
Customers can also earn additional cover simply by referring people in their community, extending protection to more families at no extra cost. You cover grows every time someone you referred makes another payment on their plan — at no extra cost to you.
“The idea behind No-Lapse is simple. A few difficult months should not erase years of responsible financial behaviour. We wanted to build something that works with the realities of modern life — particularly for people with irregular or seasonal incomes,” Nel says.
Thabo is ready to try again. This time, he knows that one slow week at the car wash will not cost him everything he has worked hard to build.
Real certainty is not about never facing difficult times but rather knowing that one difficult season cannot undo years of trying to do the right thing.
This article was sponsored by Metropolitan.
