Funeral Insurance

The high cost of African funerals greatly increases the deprivation suffered by the poor at the death of a family member.

An African funeral costs an average of three to six months income. Families must spend savings, sell assets, take children out of school and go into debt to ensure an honorable funeral for family members. The pressure for expensive funerals is intense and the social and economic costs of failure are serious.  

MicroEnsure’s funeral products support families by providing a cash payment to help with the costs of the funeral and the family’s needs at the death of an insured family member. A typical policy offers $500-$1000 in funeral insurance for a premium of less than $5 per year.

MicroEnsure minimises exclusions to ensure that the product is of real value to our clients. For example, MicroEnsure’s funeral microinsurance policies do not exclude clients with HIV and do not usually include ‘waiting periods’.

Furthermore, it is vital that our clients receive their claims quickly. A ten day claims payment standard applies to the policies, but, using mobile phone technology, payments can often be made within 72 hours. 

The products are sold through microfinance organisations and similar groups. This means that the microfinance institutions and the microinsurance provider become a central part of the community and a source of support during times of crisis.

The speed, simplicity and affordability of MicroEnsure’s funeral microinsurance provides a valuable safety net for clients like Juliana O. Boye. 

Juliana tells her story:

“My name is Juliana O Boye, I am 18 years old and the youngest of six children. I am a student at Holy Trinity Senior High School in Accra.

My brother Kenneth was the oldest among my siblings. He was a loving and a caring brother. In May 2011, Kenneth complained of a headache. His condition worsened and we took him to the hospital where he sadly passed away a few days later.

Kenneth once told me about Tigo life insurance but I never took it seriously. After he passed away, I saw a Tigo officer on television who said that the life insurance was real.

Afterwards I contacted one of my brothers who took me to the Tigo office, there they directed us to MicroEnsure where they helped us to gather certain documents. After a few days we went to MicroEnsure and they gave us a cheque for 400 Cedis (approximately $262).

I have promised to invest this money so that I will make this educational career a reality because it has been a dream of Kenneth’s to always support me in my education.”

• + Forward to a friend
• + Print Page