How Covid-19 has broken myths on funeral insurance

Ordinarily, the contemplation of death or any discussion about your own demise or that of your loved ones especially in the African family set up is highly loathed. It is a topic that is always discussed in hushed tones less one invites the wrath of hawk-eyed traditionalists.

Interestingly, nature has a way of surprising us, and in a big way. While the insurance industry in Kenya has no documented experience on the impact of pandemics, the outbreak of Covid-19 continues to offer humanity vital lessons on how to navigate life uncertainties, death included.

World over, the insurance is widely recognised to be a valuable and effective tool to mitigate the negative impact of unexpected shocks. It is considered to provide safety and stability to individuals, groups, institutions, and businesses thus assuring them of the much-needed support during their hour of need.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, insurance companies just like other businesses were not spared either. It caused severe disruption of processes majorly attributed to the fact that they are in the business of pricing risks and a pandemic was thought of as a low probability event.

Some of the disruptions recorded include increase in the number of claims payouts especially for the life insurance segment and reduction in premium payments in other classes of insurance. Smarting from this reality, insurance companies have been forced to deploy creative business continuity protocols to reduce significant interruption losses.

VALUE OF LIFE

As the coronavirus outbreak has shown, life can change very quickly and very unpredictably. You may have suddenly become sick, lost your job, or found yourself struggling to put food on the table or keep your family safe. You may be anxious about when the pandemic will end or if life will ever return to normal. Yet as human beings, we crave security. We want to feel safe and have a sense of control over our lives and well-being.

With Covid-19 in our midst the sense of security quickly vanished, and we were all exposed to the vagaries of the pandemic. The fact that there was no known cure for the virus, majority of us depended on preventive measures which came in handy in terms of reducing the infection rates. Unfortunately, some of the most affected and who succumbed as a result had their funeral rites performed in the most unusual manner in line with the government protocols to keep everyone safe from cross infections.

Ideally, African funerals are large-scale, often expensive events that involve families sharing with the community. This is done ostensibly to share in the memory of the deceased during his time with us. However, this comes at a cost. A huge one at that. Additionally, if the death is of the bread earner of the family, it complicates matters further. Families stare at death of income, at least in short to medium term and balancing the priorities is a challenging task.

For most families, nothing had prepared them for the worst. Having to process the shock of losing a loved one in the most mysterious way and having to make burial preparations within a short period of time weighed heavily on them. It therefore means that the bereaved had to mobilise the much-needed resources within the shortest time possible as well as comply with the laid down guidelines on burials during the Covid-19 period.

CHANGING THE TIDE

To many Kenyans, buying a funeral insurance cover is always seen as an afterthought or an unnecessary activity. However, the truth is with the current uncertainties around us, getting a last expense cover might as well make the difference between giving your loved ones a decent send-off without feeling a pinch in your pockets or having to go out of your way to conduct a fundraiser from friends and relatives.

It is on this basis that at the height of the accelerated infections last year, Jubilee Life Insurance introduced a raft of mitigative measures that saw affected customers enjoy waivers. One of those was a 10percent death benefit upon confirmation of testing positive for Covid-19. Such concessions went a long way in jump starting the lives of the affected families by offsetting their hospital bills and other attendant costs.

Imperative to note is that a funeral insurance cover serves as a cushion towards your family’s funeral and related expenses. Basically, the aim is to restore you to the position you were in before the event occurred in terms of additional expenditure. It is a practise that we should all emulate and make it a priority.

While the long-term impacts of the pandemic remain uncertain, potential opportunities to repackage our products in a way that appeals to our customers have presented themselves as we move towards a post-pandemic world.