Funeral Policies and Burial Societies in Zimbabwe: How They Work

A funeral is one of the largest unplanned expenses a Zimbabwean family faces, and it arrives at the worst possible moment. A funeral policy in Zimbabwe, or membership of a burial society, exists to make sure that grief is not compounded by a financial crisis.

The two main arrangements

Funeral policies from registered assurers

You pay a monthly premium to a funeral assurance company, and on the death of a covered person the company provides a defined package — commonly a coffin, mortuary services, transport of the body, a hearse and family transport on the day, and sometimes a cash amount. Some policies pay a cash benefit instead of services. Cover typically extends to a defined list of dependants, at rates that depend on age and the number of lives covered.

Burial societies

These are community, church or workplace groups in which members contribute regularly and the pooled fund supports a member's family when a death occurs, often alongside practical help — cooking, transport, presence at the home. They are cheaper and rooted in mutual obligation rather than contract, and their reliability depends entirely on the discipline and honesty of the group.

Many families hold both: a formal policy for the funeral's costs and a society for community support.

What to check before you join

1. Exactly what the package includes. Which coffin, what transport, how many kilometres, how many family members carried, mortuary days included, tent and chairs or not.
2. Who is covered — spouse, children, parents, extended family — and at what additional premium.
3. The waiting period before benefits become payable, and how it applies to natural versus accidental death.
4. Age limits for adding elderly parents, which is where most families are caught out.
5. What happens if you miss premiums, and the grace period.
6. Rural transport and repatriation. If the burial will be at a rural home, confirm the distance covered and what happens beyond it.
7. Repatriation from abroad if family members live in the diaspora — this is expensive and rarely included by default.
8. Whether the provider is registered and regulated. Ask directly, and be sceptical of an unregistered scheme.
9. Currency of premiums and benefits — see our currency guide, because a benefit fixed in a weakening currency can become worthless.

When a death occurs

• Notify the provider or society immediately — most require notification within a short period.
• Obtain the medical cause of death form from the hospital or clinic, and then the death certificate from the registry office.
• Have the deceased's national ID and the claimant's identification ready.
• Keep the policy number and documents somewhere the family can find them — a policy nobody knows about is a policy that pays nothing.

Registering the death and the estate

The death must be registered and a death certificate issued; that certificate is required for everything that follows — bank accounts, pensions, property and inheritance. Winding up an estate is a separate process from the funeral, and it is where families most often end up in conflict. Our guide to wills and deceased estates explains it.

Practical advice

• Write down what you have — provider, policy number, contact number, who is covered — and give a copy to two people.
• Review cover as the family grows or as parents age.
• Do not over-insure. Several overlapping policies cost money that would serve the family better elsewhere.
• In a burial society, insist on written rules and records. Most society disputes are about money nobody recorded.

More family and money guides are on the guides page.