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No one should struggle to give their loved ones a dignified send off

25 August 2020 Liberty

This August, Liberty is unveiling its brand-new product: The Liberty Funeral Plus Plan that allows you to choose your benefits according to your financial situation, whenever you want, to help you manage your money in good times and bad.

If there is one lesson we can all take from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that life is unpredictable. But South Africans are flexible, and they can adapt to any situation, whether it’s the strict rules of a lockdown, or a sharp economic downturn. But flexibility shouldn’t just apply to individuals. When it comes to a product like funeral cover – that is important to so many South Africans – insurers need to be flexible as well.

The Liberty Funeral Plus Plan – launching this August – allows consumers to customise their policy whenever they need to, depending on their financial situation.

“Products in the past have been quite rigid. We know that sometimes, the client only wants certain benefits but then have had to take others because they are part of a funeral plan package. This plan is all about letting the customer decide, to save money when they don’t have it, or upgrade their benefits when they do,” said Andrew Codd, Divisional Director of Emerging Consumer Market Products at Liberty.

“This kind of cover shouldn’t be on our terms, it should be on the client's, which is why we’ve created the most flexible funeral plan possible that allows customers to tailor cover to manage life’s unexpected moments as they happen,” said Codd.
The Liberty Funeral Plus Plan also accommodates the diverse needs of different family situations.

“We wanted to take an approach that’s more inclusive. In South Africa, we sometimes have people with multiple spouses, and our definition of ‘our children’ is also different to other countries. This product allows you to cover the people who are closest to you,” said Liberty Key Accounts Manager Carol Sibanda.

For example, allowing a single person to provide cover for up to 32 loved ones, because having a larger family shouldn’t mean restricting their protection. Also unique to the Funeral Plus Plan is the option to cover non-blood relatives, like the children raised in a home, or people who may not be family but feel like family, such as your domestic worker or gardener. Our society is diverse, and Liberty acknowledges this. That's why we came up with a plan that takes into account the various family situations.

Another benefit includes coverage specifically for tombstones, which pays out R10 000 outside of other funeral costs to cover these important memorials.

“The importance of a loved one’s tombstone is a major part of burial custom, and serves as a loving memorial to the deceased,” said Sibanda.

But there are other benefits that consumers can choose to take – or not – such as options for other immediate pay-outs in the event of a tragedy:

• R1 000 towards airtime - for communicating with family and making all the necessary funeral arrangements.
• R1 000 towards groceries – to help you and your loved ones with immediate support and needs.
• R3 000 towards transportation - either to bring your deceased loved one to the burial site or to transport family to the funeral.

“We also wanted to take into account the financial situations of our potential clients as they got older, which is why we introduced the Paid-Up benefit,” said Codd.

This benefit may be slightly more expensive than the other options, he explained, but it will allow any customer, to stop paying premiums from their 65th birthday, with the policy remaining in place.
If they are no longer earning an income from that age or can no longer pay premiums, the funeral cover will still be maintained, to ensure peace of mind.

“It’s one less thing to worry about when you’ve retired,” said Codd.

Meanwhile, to help lower the costs of funeral cover even further, the plan has also introduced the Cash Back Bonus, which pays a percentage of your total spending on the cover from the fifth anniversary of your policy and every five years afterwards.

“You can take up all options, or just one or two. All we wanted was to create a policy that would reflect the needs of customers across the spectrum of South Africa,” said Sibanda.

“We know many people are struggling right now, but we want people to be able to protect their families in the event of a tragedy. Funeral cover can make getting through these terrible situations easier, and it should be affordable,” said Codd.

We also know that situations change and that things will get better and at that point, you might reconsider and add more benefits when you can afford them. This new product is adjustable, flexible and gives you peace of mind, knowing you can take cover that you can afford aligned to your current needs. Liberty is in this with you.

For more details about benefits, definitions, guarantees, fees, tax, limitations, charges, premiums/contributions or other conditions and associated risks on the Liberty Funeral Plus Plan, visit www.liberty.co.za

Liberty Group Limited is the Insurer of the Funeral Plus Plan and an Authorised Financial Services Provider (no.2409). Terms and Conditions, risks and limitations apply.

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