Funeral Cover

What it is Funeral Cover?

Funeral insurance is designed to pay for your funeral and other once-off final expenses so that the people you leave behind aren't left with huge bills. You can also insure the lives of up to 20 family members, so you can focus on giving your loved ones a decent funeral when they pass on without worrying about your cash flow.

We usually pay out within 4 to 48 hours of a claim, so you have ready cash to pay for the immediate costs of a death.

Like all Sanlam Indie policies, your Funeral policy includes a built-in Wealth Bonus. We’ll match up to 100% of your premium in a reward that tracks the market like an investment to grow real wealth for your future.

Do I need Funeral Cover?

Funeral Cover insures your own life. That means when you die, we'll give your beneficiaries a single lump sum payout to help pay for your funeral and other expenses – like mortuary costs, or transporting your body to its final resting place – so they aren’t left with huge bills to pay on top of everything. Without a policy, someone who wasn’t expecting to pay, or worse, someone who simply cannot afford to pay, would have to cover those costs.

Family Funeral Cover insures the lives of others. You can insure the lives of up to 20 family members, so you’ll be able to pay the immediate costs when a relative passes on.

How much Funeral Cover do I need?

Well, that all depends on how big of a send-off you want for yourself or for the ones you love. We take into account your income (just to make sure you can afford it), the age of each family member you add, and their relationship to you.

You and your spouse can be covered for up to a maximum of R50,000 each, and you can choose to insure additional lives for up to a maximum of R50,000 each. Sanlam Indie will automatically double your cover after 3 years at no extra cost (assuming the cover is still active).

Who can get Funeral Cover?

As the main member, you can get Funeral Cover for yourself if you're aged 18-60 and have a South African ID number. Your spouse can be 16-85, and all other family members 0-85. (Remember, these age limits are for the start of the policy - we’ll continue to cover people as they age for as long as the policy is active.)

All family members you insure on your Family Funeral plan must live permanently in South Africa. If they are citizens of South Africa, Lesotho or Namibia, they are covered no matter where in the world they die. If they are of any other nationality, they are covered for death in South Africa only.

Why’d we create Funeral Cover?

Your funeral. The worst party you'll ever go to. We hope. Thankfully, you won't have to live through it, but many of your most cherished friends and family will. A lump sum payout will help get them through a tough time without having to worry about how to pay for funeral essentials.

On the other hand, you also don’t want to be the one worrying about money when you’re already coping with the loss of a family member. Death can be expensive: think repatriation (transporting the body home), mortuary costs, and the funeral itself (venue hire, catering, burial… ). We made Funeral Cover so that you and your loved ones can go out with a bang without leaving anyone with a bill they can’t afford.

How and when are Funeral Cover claims paid?

Claims are paid to you or your beneficiaries (or your estate if you haven’t specified any) as fast as possible: usually within 4 (working) hours of us receiving all the paperwork (like the death certificate). Some payouts might take longer if we suspect fraud and choose to investigate.

And just a heads-up: as with all payments, the money might take a couple of days more before it actually appears in your bank account.

Basically, we just need a bit of time to make sure no one’s faking their own death, but we aim to get you the cash asap.

There is no waiting period for death by accidental causes (like a car accident), and you are immediately covered for these types of claims if your payment is within the first 35 days of taking out cover.

When doesn’t Funeral Cover pay out?

Funeral Cover will not pay a claim if:

• The insured life commits suicide within the first 12 months of the cover activating

• The insured life dies of natural causes within 6 months of the cover activating

• The insured life dies as a result of participating in something illegal

• You have provided us with incorrect information

• Your cover is not active (i.e. we have not successfully collected your premium within 35 days of you taking out cover)

Who gets paid?

Funeral Cover: you should nominate a beneficiary to get the lump sum payout when you die. If you prefer, you can choose to have the full cover paid into your estate.

Family Funeral Cover: If you choose to add additional lives to your policy, you, the policyholder, will be paid the lump sum for an insured family member if they die.

Is the claim payout taxable?

Nope. Funeral payouts are not taxed.

How do Funeral Cover premiums work?

Your premium will remain level for the first year. After that, your premium will increase by 5% every January. We reserve the right to reprice premiums in future if there are more claims than expected.

The good news is, your cover doubles at the start of the fourth year of your policy (assuming the cover is still active) at no extra cost. Once that doubling of cover happens, your cover stays level and won’t change unless you choose to add more cover.

More about Funeral premium increases

Can I skip premiums?

You can skip a total of 6 premiums during the first 3 years of having an active policy. You'll still be covered, but your cover will be temporarily reduced until you make up the payment. If you skip all 6 premiums, and you don't make up the last payment before your next billing date, your policy will lapse and your cover will fall away. Any claims made during this period will not be paid out.

More about skipping cover

Will the cover amount change?

Your Funeral cover stays the same unless you ask us to increase it. The exception is when we double your cover after 3 years at no extra cost to you.

If you increase your cover, we’ll increase your premium accordingly. You can also choose to add other Sanlam Indie products at any time, but we may first need you to answer some short medical questions.

When does the cover end?

This cover will last for as long as you continue to pay your premium. If you die, we’ll continue to cover the other lives on your Family Funeral policy for 6 months, and we’ll even do it for free (nobody needs to take over paying the premium). After those 6 months are up, the entire policy will get cancelled and we won’t pay out if anyone else dies.