For tomorrow’s sake, name your insurance beneficiaries
For many people, even those who have taken a life insurance policy, and given our cultural orientation in this part of the world, talking or imagining what will happen after death is usually a big task.
Therefore, important issues’ including estate or who becomes the insurance beneficiary is taken for granted and sometimes made secret from would-be beneficiaries.
In fact it’s a taboo to talk about death and what happens thereafter in many homes, so they prefer that it is not mentioned at all, and so they believe that with God nobody will die.
Unfortunately this is practically not the case!
A widow recounted her experience following the death of her husband who died in an air crash, but had on the day of that journey which resulted in his death reluctantly told his wife that “in case I am not around here is my ATM cards and their PIN numbers.
There is this amount of money here, here and there.” But given our orientation again, the woman said “Please don’t mention that, you will be around” and she did not take note of that secret information from her husband.
When the man didn’t return from that journey having died in the air crash and it was difficult accessing those monies for immediate use, it became obvious for the woman latter on that those information about life after death were after all necessary, and should not be taken for granted.
Experts say this all important discussion should hold no bounds because it’s a reality and must come one day.
David Sobanjo, group managing director, AIICO Insurance plc, one company that announced recently it was set to pay all unclaimed insurance benefits in its book, calling on beneficiaries, said many spouses keep their insurance secret from their partners.
Though he could not explain the reason, but this may not be unconnected to the same cultural orientation not to discuss death at all or probably for security reasons given that not all marriages are ‘watertight’.
Analysts from Love to Know Insurance (LTK), one of the most stressful things to think about can be the beneficiaries to life insurance policies and so has posed some questions:
Will your family be protected should some accident injure you and prevent you from caring for them? Will you make the right choices now that will positively affect them in the future?
