Insurance only works when people can actually access it

At its core, Insurance is a transfer of a material personal or business risk to the balance sheet of an insurer, in exchange for a premium. 

However, a large portion of the South African population cannot utilise this important risk transfer “safety net” due to legacy distribution models built around paper-based application forms, face-to-face meetings and lengthy onboarding processes. The ultimate, unintended consequence being financial exclusion for the most vulnerable.

This isn’t a product problem.

It’s an access problem.

Legacy distribution quietly perpetuates inequality

Traditional insurance distribution has relied heavily on:

• Paper application forms.

• Physical broker / adviser meetings.

• Manual verification processes.

  
  

For many consumers, these are not minor inconveniences — they are hard barriers.

For someone running a small business, working irregular hours, or living far from urban centres, the cost of engaging with traditional insurance models is often too high relative to the perceived benefit.

The result is insurance often becomes something that feels out of reach altogether.

The real barriers people face are structural, not behavioural

When people don’t take up insurance, it’s easy to attribute it to a lack of interest or understanding. In reality, the challenges are far more practical, like:

• Access and cost of transport to meet brokers / advisers.

• Limited access to computers, stable internet or printers.

• Low financial literacy, making complex policy language intimidating.

• FICA challenges, including:

  • Inconsistent, delayed or time-consuming access to Home Affairs records.

  • Difficulty producing formal proof of address.

  • Non-standard employment or income verification.

    
    

None of these issues reflect a lack of responsibility. They reflect a system designed without enough consideration for lived reality.

Technology changes the economics of access

This is where technology fundamentally shifts the equation.

Digital distribution, embedded insurance, and click-to-buy models dramatically reduce the friction between need and cover. When insurance is offered at the right moment, in the right place, and through channels people already use, access increases naturally.

Technology:

• Removes unnecessary steps.

• Simplifies onboarding.

• Reduces dependency on physical infrastructure.

• Allows verification and compliance to happen intelligently.

  
  

Most importantly, it lowers the cost of distribution.

Lower distribution costs unlocks access and opportunity

With commissions highly regulated under South African law, brokers / advisers have tended to move towards the higher end of the market where the costs of printing, petrol, communication and entertainment can be covered by higher premiums.

Generally, the lower end of the market isn’t sustainable to service for a broker / adviser as the cost per client acquisition is greater than the commission received from the premium.

When the cost per acquisition drops, something powerful happens.

Brokers and advisers — who are often constrained by time and economics — can sustainably serve a much broader client base. Smaller policies, lower premiums, and first-time insurance buyers become viable again.

Instead of being forced to prioritise only high-value clients, advisers can:

• Serve emerging businesses.

• Educate and support first-time policyholders.

• Build long-term relationships from smaller beginnings.

  
  

Technology doesn’t replace advice — it amplifies it.

Access creates a win-win outcome

When distribution barriers are removed:

• Consumers gain access to protection that was previously impractical or intimidating.

• Brokers and advisers operate more efficiently, with lower costs and broader reach.

• The industry grows sustainably, by expanding the insured population rather than recycling the same customers.

  
  

Financial inclusion is about giving more people the chance to be insured.

Access is the real product

At its core, insurance is a promise. But a promise that can’t be accessed might as well not exist.

If we genuinely want insurance to fulfil its purpose — protecting livelihoods, businesses, and families — we have to design distribution around real lives, not idealised ones.

Insurance only works when people can actually access it.