Photo: Thondwephotos, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Funeral cover in Malawi
Who may sell it and what to check
4 chapters in one PDF, every source listed. Free, no sign-up.
Get the free PDFOn this page · 5 sections
Who may sell funeral cover
From the Registrar's Guidelines on licensing of a funeral insurance provider:
- Funeral insurance business = providing funeral, burial or cremation services, or paying money on a death to meet funeral expenses, and no other benefits except incidental ones.
- The provider is a company under the Companies Act, its name includes the words "Funeral Insurance", its minimum paid-up capital is K300,000,000 and its core capital K240,000,000.
- Its licence expires on 31 March each year.
Life insurers sell group funeral life assurance as a class of life business (Classes Directive, 2017). Check any seller on the Registrar's list.
What to check before you pay
- Is the provider on the Registrar's list of licensed insurers, and is the person selling it a licensed agent or broker?
- Does the policy pay cash to the family, or services through approved funeral service providers, and up to what amount?
- Who is covered (spouse, children, parents), from what age, and after what waiting period?
- Ask for the key facts statement: a funeral policy sold by a life insurer is a life policy, with a 10-working-day cooling-off period (Disclosure Directive 2018).
Funeral benefits you may already have
- Medical aid: MASM's funeral benefit is a group policy underwritten by NICO Life since 1 July 2020: funeral services up to MK1,500,000 (VIP), MK1,000,000 (Executive) or MK750,000 (Econoplan) (MASM). See MASM.
- Death at work: when a worker dies of a work injury and leaves no dependants, the employer pays the reasonable medical and burial expenses, recoverable from the Workers' Compensation Fund (Workers' Compensation Act, section 7(1)(b) and (2)).
Already insured?
Next step
Frequently asked questions
Does a funeral cover provider need a licence in Malawi?
Yes. The Registrar of Financial Institutions says any entity conducting insurance business, including funeral insurance, must hold a licence under the Financial Services Act and the Insurance Act.
Can I cancel a funeral policy?
A funeral policy written by a life insurer is a life policy: you have 10 working days from the start of cover to withdraw without penalty and get the premiums back (Disclosure Directive, 2018).
Does MASM pay for funerals?
Its members are covered by the MASM Group Funeral Policy, underwritten by NICO Life, which provides funeral services up to a limit that depends on the scheme.
Sources
- Registrar of Financial Institutions — Guidelines on licensing of a funeral insurance provider in Malawi
- Insurance (Classes of Insurance Business) Directive, 2017 — Government Notice No. 43, Gazette of 11 August 2017
- Financial Services (Disclosure Requirements for Insurance Services) Directive, 2018 — Government Notice No. 42, Gazette of 5 July 2018
- MASM — Funeral cover (seen 31 October 2026)
- Workers' Compensation Act, Cap. 55:03 (in force 1 July 2000) — MalawiLII consolidated text, Web Archive copy
- Registrar of Financial Institutions — Press release: list of licensed, registered and supervised financial institutions as at 30 June 2026 (published 28 October 2026)