Bereaved families fear losing out on funeral covers
As preparations for the mass burial of the 45 bus crash victims continue, bereaved families are not only grappling with the profound loss of their loved ones but are also concerned about losing out on their funeral covers.
This is after government’s decision to cover all expenses from the day of the bus accident till the repatriation of the bodies to the country for burial. The families are worried they might not benefit from their funeral policies.
Government has covered the costs of the 45 caskets and food hampers, meaning their individual funeral policy covers, which normally pay the immediate expenses of the funeral such as the casket and groceries might not be needed.
A member from one of the bereaved families, Kagelelo Relaeng, raised the issue this week during the public address by Minister of State President and Member of Parliament (MP) for Molepolole South, Kabo Morwaeng.
While Relaeng expressed gratitude to the government for coming to their rescue during this time, he wondered what would happen to their funeral policy covers.
“It has been a month since we lost our family to the tragic bus accident in South Africa when they were just going for the Easters. Some of us lost so many family members in that accident. We are now concerned whether we will benefit from our funeral covers,” Relaeng asked.
He expressed fear that they might not get their monies’ worth from the insurance companies as it would be unnecessary to give out caskets and groceries. Hence, Relaeng pleaded for government intervention.
“So, we are raising this concern with you, we plead that the government intervene and advice companies of the funeral covers to reimburse us instead of giving us coffins. “We have that challenge when we want to claim from these policies,” he said.
However, Morwaeng highlighted that government is constrained to intervene as the insurance companies are private entities and have their ways of operating.
“We hear your concerns and fears. But what I can say is that with delicate issues, we can only advise these companies but not really sway as these are private companies. And we can only help if you encounter the issues you raised,” he said.
Morwaeng elaborated that he believes and hopes that the companies will do right thing by themselves as they too are humans. Furthermore, the minister advised the grieving families to act swiftly and process their claims with funeral cover companies upon receiving the death certificates. It is said that government paid P27, 000 for each casket of the 45 victims.