APIA, Samoa – Affordability and trust in the organisation providing the insurance are the two main priorities highlighted by Samoans as being important to them when deciding to purchase funeral expenses insurance.
These were the findings of two focus group sessions organised by the Regional Disaster Resilience in the Pacific Small Island Developing States (RESPAC) and the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP) in Samoa last week where the idea of funeral expenses insurance was investigated.
The separate focus groups of employees and employers looked at the concept of funeral expenses insurance.
The responses helped organisers to better understand the need for this type of coverage, what it should cover, how it should be priced and the best way of marketing and distributing the product.
Participants agreed that funeral expenses insurance would be an attractive insurance product that they would be willing to take up as it would help them deal with the high cost of funeral expenses.
Funeral Expenses Insurance pays out a fixed sum of money on the passing of an insured person.
The money is paid out to a named beneficiary, for example the spouse of the deceased, and the money can be used for any purpose.
Typically, the insurance is available to any adult, irrespective of their employment status, gender or location in the country.
The cost of the insurance depends on the amount of insurance that is purchased.
Amit Garg, the Samoa-based PFIP Financial Inclusion Specialist explained, “we know that dealing with the high costs of funerals can be an added burden on families at these stressful and emotional times and that many people take out loans either from formal licensed institutions or from informal lenders, often at high rates of interest to deal with funeral expenses.”
