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Life insurance companies must ensure the funeral products they provide really meet the expenses and fund the cost associated with today’s funeral, Country Head, Metropolitan Ghana, Tawiah Ben-Ahmed has advised.

Speaking at the launch of Metropolitan Life Insurance’s Family Eternity Plus (FEP) in Accra, he said the cost of funeral this days outweighs the benefits provided by funeral companies and efforts must be made to ensure the right benefits were secured.

“If the cost that is occurred to finance funerals is beginning to rise, then it challenges funeral policy companies to make sure that the funeral policies that they provide, really meets the need of clients and then be able to finance the cost associated for the funeral, otherwise if the benefit do not meet the need or cannot finance the expenses, it makes it irrelevant,”he stated.

For example he said, the cost of professional mourners is moving from GHC5000 to GHC7,000 in August, and a funeral product gives only GHC5,000 then the essence of the product has been defeated as other aspects of the funeral is yet to be covered.

It is for that reason, he said, the FEP has been introduced to provide a solution that seeks to address the holistic needs when it comes to funerals in the country. 

‘’As you know, funerals are a big thing in our country and we are of the opinion that the funeral insurance that is provided, must address the entire needs of the Ghanaian insurance public,” he stated.

The FEP, he added, meets the needs of the insurance public in Ghana by providing GHC60, 000 as standard benefit for the main funeral and another GHC15, 000 for the one week celebrations and after every three years, pay 30% of the third year premium back to the client.

“What is interesting is that, the GHC15, 000 is not deducted from the main funeral benefit that is selected. Beyond this, we pay benefits when risk has occurred, that is sudden death otherwise in every interval of three years, 30% of the third year premium is paid as cash back because we appreciate that if no claim has been paid, the client would still have the expectation of experiencing a tangible benefit under the offering,” he explained.

“One of the benefits of the product is the fact that, for the first time in Ghana, we are having a funeral solution that says never again should our clients pay premium for funeral insurance when they go on retirement. Once you retire under FEP, your are not expected to pay premium, but the policy continues for the rest of your life and it pays for all the people that you have insured under the policy and you can cover as much as 18 family members under one policy,” he stressed.