With the arrival of Covid-19, the awareness around illness and death has increased. The virus will also still be around for a long time to come.
It highlights a growing demand for life-cover solutions. While historically viewed as a grudge purchase, consumers are waking up to the importance of being covered for every eventuality.
Abulela Gazi, head of client and business solutions at financial services provider Metropolitan, said, “The circumstances of consumers have undergone a radical and rapid shift, and for many South Africans, their income security has taken a knock.
“This, coupled with consumers’ desire to provide a solid legacy for their families, has led us to demonstrate that we understand the value in the power of the collective even in the manner in which we design solutions.”
Gazi believes that the design of insurance solutions needed to undergo an evolution to accommodate this new context. Agility, affordability and personalisation are the order of the day; benefits need to deliver maximum value to a pressurised consumer, while the service experience should be transparent, smooth and seamless.
A year ago
The first lockdown was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa exactly a year ago that the nation will go into a national 21-day lockdown to commence on March 27. The first death, Madelein van Wyk (48) of the Western Cape, was also recorded on this day. The pandemic also had an impact on the economy.
“Firstly, as the lockdown was announced there was a lot of uncertainty in South Africa and worldwide. “It had a significant impact on the economy, but the reality is that the lockdown came with a lot of consequences. From an economical perspective, businesses have closed, look at the entertainment industry. So those business owners effectively lost revenue.
“The ability to keep businesses afloat, to keep people employed. The reality is after the lockdown, some organisations closed doors and an increase in unemployment became evident.
“Can we then as a country revive the economy? Yes, there is a negative impact on the economy but, by the lockdown, we were able to save lives and I do believe that we are starting to see the economy recover. We start seeing some key issues across the board relive, and when we today decades from now, we will appreciate the government’s decision to save lives.
“From a family perspective, it was really tough because not only were you confronted with this uncertainty, but family members across the board were experiencing difficulties and some lost jobs, some were paid less, businesses were interrupted, and that was really difficult to navigate a sound economy.
“However, it is important that as a family we have a conversation on what we are going through. Discuss how we can navigate the situation. So, by doing that we can help one another as a broader family to assure that livelihood is kept afloat,” said Gazi.
He also stresses the fact that all South Africans and especially families get together and keep their financial side sound to be able to face the future and the pandemic better.
