Lee Bromfield, CEO of FNB Life, the administrative and insurance distribution arm of First National Bank, broadcasts that the spiralling increase in the cost of living in South Africa this year, i.e. rising food prices and successive interest rates increasing in the first quarter of 2016, has yet to dissuade consumers demand for funeral cover.
And, regardless of the SARB’s decisions to keep interests rate unchanged, economists await a further increase in petrol prices, which in turn will constrain household’s budgets further.
“Our customer data shows a relatively stable demand for funeral cover despite consumers experiencing a tough first-half of the year. One of the plausible assumptions is that consumers are becoming wary of accumulating debt for eventualities such as funerals. Not only is this a smart financial decision, but it also contributes to slowing the rate of people who get into debt for unforeseen occurrences such as losing a loved-one,” said Bromfield.
FNB informs us that over the last nine months, they have sold over 400 000 Funeral policies partly due to the growth in value placed on funeral cover, the business unit have aggressively been making it’s funeral plans available across FNB’S banking platforms such as ATMs and Cellphone Banking.
The improved accessibility to funeral plans remains a key contributor to financial security; it is stressed that people who are in need of funeral cover should remain cautious in regards to unprincipled/immoral industry practices and should only approach reputable providers to avoid financial losses.
“People need to choose a provider they can trust, because among the many players in funeral insurance, you still get some that do not have the interests of the consumer at heart. This is why consumers need to pay attention to which insurance providers they choose,” he said.