The Sunday Mail (Zimbabwe)

Get peace of mind: Cover your family

Most funeral policies offer a cash pay-out to finance all expenses associated with the funeral. There are various amounts to choose from ranging from $500 to $10 000.

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Ask yourself a hard question IF YOU were to get seriously ill or pass away tomorrow, would your loved ones be taken care of? Would they continue to enjoy the same lifestyle without worrying about paying the bills, paying the mortgage or even putting food on the table? Would they be able to afford a decent burial or memorial service?

If you answered ‘no’ to any of the above questions, do not panic. Can your family cope without you? There is still time to remedy the situation and give your family the cover and peace of mind that they deserve.

Bearing in mind we live in a world full of uncertaint­ies, an illness or death is never planned, and the financial hardship that follows can devastate any family.

Unplanned funerals in particular can be financiall­y crippling, so we will start our examinatio­n of individual life products by confrontin­g this issue first.

Funeral cover

As sure as we know that the sun will rise and set each day, we also acknowledg­e the inevitabil­ity of death and funerals.

“It was such a sad burial. Our loved one’s son could not even witness the burial of his own mother”, said one lady recently.

“The funeral was just quick and without proper arrangemen­ts and he (the son) was in the rural areas when his mother died in town”.

Could you imagine a preacher saying, “lf only money permitted, we would have waited a while longer?”

A question of honour

While it is not pleasant to imagine your own funeral, or that of your loved ones, it is necessary in order to make the correct arrangemen­t. It starts with respect and we believe that paying last respects is a sign of honour.

Having funeral cover puts one’s mind at ease. It is easy to forget about death and concentrat­e on living life to the fullest, when you know that you and your family are covered. A funeral policy’s proceeds are provided timeously in order to be used in bereavemen­t.

Most funeral policies offer a cash pay-out to finance all expenses associated with the funeral. There are various amounts to choose from ranging from $500 to $10 000.

Other funeral policies offer burial services coupled with provision of transport and groceries. Funeral plans give you the freedom to add other family dependants such as father, mother, mother-in-law and father-in-law. Options start from just $0.50 There is a wild variety of benefits and payment options. Term funeral policies will pay out benefits only if death occurs before the end of the selected term.

Usual terms range from 1 year to 25 years. For whole life funeral policies, the benefits will be paid whenever death occurs.

Premium (cost of cover) can be paid for the whole life or for the period specified in the contact. Premium for funeral cover start from as little as a $50. The premium paying term and the term of the cover do not have to be the same. Some policies only pay premiums for, say, 10 years but cover remains for the whole life.

Funeral cover does not require one to go for medical tests and is simple and easy to access. Accidental death is covered immediatel­y from the time of signing up but death as a result of a natural cause will entail one to wait for a certain period, known as the waiting period, for the cover to commence. The waiting period varies per product, but is usually between 3 months and 6 months.

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