Thousands of people who took out life and illness policies, some as far back as a decade ago, will be left with no cover at the end of the month - and no premium refunds - in the wake of the sudden cancellation of their policies.

The policies - Prime LivingLegacy and Prime Living CoverGrow - were sold by Prime Meridian Direct and underwritten by short-term insurer Constantia.

The former was sold as an “accident and health” policy to 2,771 people between September 2010 and December 2016, and the latter to 2,445 people between January 2015 and May 2018.

The first those policyholders knew about the unilateral policy cancellations was in the last week of February when they received an SMS saying their policy will be cancelled with effect from March 31 “due to regulatory changes” and urging them to "please don’t be alarmed".

In the case of the CoverGrow policy, a waiting period was imposed on disclosed, pre-existing health conditions, which in many cases was about to expire, or had just expired, when they received the shock policy cancellation news.

Many of those very alarmed policyholders discovered in the following days that they would not get any of their premiums refunded, and the older ones are now in danger of not being able to find alternative cover at all, given their advanced age.

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has stepped in and is engaging with Constantia "to ensure this matter is resolved in a manner which does not lead to unfair outcomes for policyholders”.

The average age of CoverGrow policyholders is 51 years, and they’ve been paying, on average, R475 a month.

Moira Sturmair and her partner André Theron, of Langebaan in the Western Cape, both took out CoverGrow polices three and five years ago respectively, the latter paying R1,500 a month. Theron, at 69 and in ill health, fears he won’t be able to find alternative cover.

“There are thousands of other people in a similar situation and it’s just not right,” Sturmair said.

Sauro Venturi, of Durbanville, took out a R2m policy in November 2016, paying R749 a month. His waiting period expired just four months ago.

“My accrued benefit as at December 2019 was about R1.2m, and the reality is that from April 1, should I die, my family gets nothing.

“At 73, no insurance company will consider life cover for me going forward.”

Tyron Brett wrote to TimesLIVE in a state of panic after receiving "the letter".

His 30-year-old wife has lupus and a host of related medical issues. Having taken out the policy two years and seven months ago, they were anxiously awaiting the end of the three-year waiting period when they received the bad news.

“She had been declined by several companies already,” Brett said. “Prime Meridian was the only option we had.”