Whether we like it or not at some point we will have to say goodbye to this world we call home. Bad enough is that we do not know when it will be our last time on earth.
Due to these few facts, it becomes necessary to take up a funeral cover. Also known as burial insurance this is a form of insurance that pays a specified amount of money in the event of a death by ensuring that the costs of a funeral will be covered so that family members do not have to struggle financially at this difficult time.
A majority of families in Africa depend on relatives and friend’s contribution to manage a burial ceremony for their loved ones.
We can all agree that funerals are very costly and their expense can’t be carried by a single person. Funeral ceremonies in many major African cities can take between 3 to 7 days to complete and in all these days people have to be fed and bills have to be paid bringing the total expenditures to the thousands of dollars.
So why depend on people who may at times not be reliable at one’s most critical time of need when one can instead start saving small amounts as little as $1 a month (or for many in East Africa just a 100 Kenyan or 1000 Tanzanian shillings or 2000 Ugandan shillings) with insurance companies for a funeral cover?
It is time Africa to learn the importance and benefits associated with funeral insurance so that they start signing up for this cover.
Funeral cover gives families peace of mind when they know if the breadwinner of the family passed away they can manage the burial ceremony. If one family member is the main breadwinner, the very last thing the family wouldwant to happen when the breadwinnerdiesis for the loved ones to be left with the financial burden of paying for a funeral.At the same time, if someone in a family dies, the last thing on a person’s mind should be the worry of financial woes, especially when dealing with grief and shock.
When one loses someone close to them, having a proper funeral is an important part of the grieving process. If one can’t afford a funeral, this can mean an open-ended sense of loss with no official goodbye to the person you love. A succesful burial helps give a family a much needed closure.
Funeral cover allows families to have an easy access of cash when a loved one is gone. It doesn’t matter how rich the deceased is, it can take several weeks to months to access his/her finances from the bank due to legal procedures. Because funerals require immediate cash to pay off service providers it may be difficult for the family to pay off some of the cost but by having a funeral cover it allows funds to be deposited in the beneficiary account within hours and make it possible to start arranging the funeral without delays.
Beyond the cost of a funeral itself, there are many other associated expenses that families may not have thought of. These can include items such aspaying for a headstone and transporting guests to and from the funeral, the ceremony and the church.
Some companies offer additional finacial services with funeral insurance. For instance, families can attain different types of beyond just financial help. This can include things like bereavement counselling, legal assistance to do with the funeral procedures e.g. obtaining death certificates, and help with organising the details of the funeral.
Funeral cover also allows families to get ongoing financial support after the death of a breadwinner. If the main earner in a family and die, the remaining family members may be left without a source of income in the months to come. Funeral insurancebenefits pays families a set income for several months after the demise of the breadwinner. This money can then be used to cover essential expenses such as rent, food and school fees.
Having a funeral plan in place is important to cushion oneself financially during a very tough time. While a funeral plan can never ease the pain of loss, it can help to make the path ahead just that much easier. I therefore advise my fellow Africans to utilise this opportunity available to them from their local insurer.
