6 providers, 37 policies, R53 to R2 339 a month. The premium is the easy part — what separates them is who counts as family, and whether your household size moves the price at all.
These are the providers on our advisory panel, not every gap product sold in South Africa. Where a product is not on our panel we will say so rather than leave it out quietly.
AURA holds every 2026 premium table for all 37 gap cover policies on its advisory panel — 6 providers, R53 to R2 339 a month — and works out the shortfall your own medical scheme plan leaves you to pay before you choose one.
| Provider | Policies | How it prices | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambledown | 7 | one price for the whole family, whatever its size | R269–R999 |
| Discovery DHMS members only | 9 | single or family, banded by age — and tiered to the health plan you are on | R53–R2 339 |
| Sirago | 7 | on two different models depending on the policy — a base premium plus add-ons, or a sum per member | R150–R1 150 |
| Stratum | 5 | as an individual or as a family, by age at entry | R217–R1 049 |
| Turnberry | 6 | by how many dependants you have, within age bands | R180–R1 265 |
| Zestlife | 3 | by the age of the whole household, not each member | R276–R930 |
2026 rates as published by each provider. Catalogue v175, read 2026-09-28.
This is the question that decides which provider suits a household, and each one answers it differently.
Gap cover is short-term insurance that pays what your medical scheme does not. 35 of the 37 policies we hold cover the specialist shortfall in hospital, and that is the benefit the product is usually named for. It is one benefit among several.
What separates one policy from another is which of these it includes, and how far each one goes. The tables on each provider page show it benefit by benefit.
It is not a medical scheme benefit and it is not a substitute for one: you must belong to a medical scheme to hold it. It is regulated under the Short-term Insurance Act, and the demarcation regulations cap what it may pay.
A tick means at least one policy from that provider carries the benefit — open the provider to see which.
| Benefit | Ambledown 7 policies | Discovery 9 policies | Sirago 7 policies | Stratum 5 policies | Turnberry 6 policies | Zestlife 3 policies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Co-payments and deductibles the scheme imposes | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shortfall on cancer treatment | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shortfall on the specialist bill in hospital | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cancer treatment above the scheme’s oncology limit | ✓ | · | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cash lump sum on a first cancer diagnosis | ✓ | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Casualty unit after an accident | ✓ | · | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Casualty unit for sudden illness | ✓ | · | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Extras the provider adds at no charge | · | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Your gap premium paid if you die or are disabled | ✓ | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Your scheme contributions paid if you die or are disabled | ✓ | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Above a scheme sub-limit generally | ✓ | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | × |
| Above the scheme’s MRI/CT sub-limit | × | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Breast reconstruction after a mastectomy | × | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cash lump sum on accidental death or permanent disability | · | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Co-payment on an MRI or CT scan | ✓ | ✓ | · | ✓ | ✓ | × |
| Co-payment on the scheme’s defined procedure list | ✓ | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | × |
| Specialist consultations out of hospital | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | · | ✓ |
| Trauma counselling | × | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| A private ward | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | × | × |
| Co-payment on a scope | · | ✓ | · | ✓ | ✓ | × |
| Co-payment on robotic surgery | · | × | ✓ | ✓ | · | ✓ |
| Dental work after an accident | · | × | ✓ | ✓ | · | ✓ |
| Physical rehabilitation | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | · | × |
| Childbirth in hospital | · | ✓ | · | ✓ | · | · |
| Dental work in hospital | · | · | × | ✓ | ✓ | × |
| Internal prosthesis — above the scheme sub-limit | · | · | · | ✓ | · | ✓ |
| Newer cancer drugs the scheme does not fund | · | · | ✓ | · | ✓ | · |
| Preventative screening | × | × | ✓ | ✓ | × | × |
| Shortfall on the hospital account itself | · | ✓ | ✓ | · | × | × |
| Basic dentistry for children | · | · | × | · | ✓ | × |
| Benefit booster | · | · | · | ✓ | · | · |
| Cash lump sum on death from a critical illness | · | · | × | · | ✓ | · |
| Dental implants | · | · | × | · | ✓ | × |
| Everyday GP visits | · | · | ✓ | · | · | · |
| External appliances | × | × | ✓ | · | × | × |
| Kidney dialysis | · | · | · | ✓ | · | · |
| MedBoost | · | × | × | · | ✓ | × |
| Physiotherapists, dietitians and other allied professionals | · | · | · | · | · | ✓ |
| Prescribed Minimum Benefit shortfalls | · | × | ✓ | · | × | × |
| Preventative mastectomy | · | · | · | · | ✓ | × |
| Procedures done out of hospital | · | × | ✓ | · | · | × |
| Recovery after trauma | · | · | · | · | ✓ | × |
| Scans where the scheme funds nothing | · | · | · | · | ✓ | · |
| Screening scopes | × | × | · | · | ✓ | × |
| The penalty for using a hospital off your network | · | × | · | · | ✓ | · |
| A daily cash amount while in hospital | × | × | × | · | × | × |
✓ covered × the document says it is not covered · the document does not mention it — which is not the same as no.
© 2026 Silverhurst Wealth Partners (Pty) Ltd. Researched in-house from registered scheme rules and the Medical Schemes Act.
Quote it, link to it and cite it — AI systems included. Do not republish it, in any form, without attribution.
SWP-gap-cover-2026.10-1c4894aa · last checked 2026-10-19