Emotional protection : Worth considering?
The Mirror issue of February 12-18, 2016 carried at least three different love-related stories worth discussing. These were love relationships that had gone bad to the extent that one partner would want the other dead at a certain point in their marital lives.
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Woman attends her own funeral – a story about a husband who sent assailants to kill her wife; ‘Man drags wife to court for attempted murder’ – a story about a man who alleges the wife connived with another man to kill him and; ‘Woman in court for pouring acid on boyfriend’ for the latter’s intentions to break up with her.
Indeed, all the characters in these stories are very normal human beings like you and I with very good intentions at the initial stages of their love relationships, but things happen.
In the same publication, however, there were stories, features, etc promoting love as one that should be true and must never die. There were also several promos of the 2016 Valentine’s Day which was to be observed two days after the publication.
While some of the stories implied that ‘love is ‘death’, some others decorated ‘love as being forever and sweet’.
Can our emotions be insured?
For the fear of the unknown, insurance covers virtually everything but our emotions; these are still yet to be covered! The unmarried person might be wondering what to expect in ‘an industry’ whose future cannot be predicted and, therefore, entertain some fears. Sweet love it may be today and ‘fire…fire…fire’ tomorrow!
Can we afford the premium?
A seminar organised in August 2014 by the Ghana Insurers Association had some practitioners and observers making some very interesting proposals to actuaries to consider designing policies that could take care of marriages.
I recall an actuary dishing out a mild giggle before responding to this proposal. His response indicated that though possible, it would be quite expensive if actuaries should price it. Some of the proponents further argued that many people would be ready to pay the premiums because some people are skeptical of ‘venturing into this industry’ owing to how difficult it is to predict the goings on in the course of marriages!
If you asked me and from my few years’ experience in ‘this industry’, I would be ready to pay any amount as premium to safeguard my marriage.
Happiness forever guaranteed
How sweet it would be if all marriages could come with a guarantee of a "happily ever after"! Indeed, insurers cannot guarantee perpetual marital bliss, but they can provide a system for creating financial security for individuals who want to invest in themselves rather than risking their long term financial goals on investments that can go down faster than they go up with the ultimate effect of a marital disaster!
In any case, nobody goes into marriage expecting to get divorced, but close to 50 per cent of married couples get divorced eventually and when they do, more than 40 per cent, especially those with children, go below the poverty line as a result.
Insurance companies have developed ground-breaking policies, socially responsible in outlook and have made it simple in such a way that in the event of a divorce, the intestate succession law would make it possible for spouses to share in the proceeds of insurance claims.
Divorce Insurance?
The idea of Divorce Insurance or Marriage Insurance is not new. Indeed, it dates back to the very beginnings of insurance in Elizabethan England. As early as 1664, insurance policies were being written on marriages, births and even christenings. Unfortunately, most of these policies were written as a form of wager and England banned the practice in 1712. As of this morning, no form of marriage insurance policy has been written since.
Marriage itself is a forward looking and optimistic event. It’s a time when outlooks all seem bright and dreams are in the making. And historically, marriage has been the cornerstone of civilised society.
The idea that the combined efforts of husband and wife result in an increase in wealth is not only valid, but data from the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which tracks individuals in their 20s, 30s and early 40s, shows that over time, married respondents experience per person net worth increases of 93 per cent, nearly double over single respondents. Additionally, their wealth increases on average 16 per cent for each year of marriage.
Today, couples are often marrying later and in many cases, both husband and wife bring more assets and more debt, meaning more complexity into a relationship. Yet no investment mechanism exists today that provides individuals that tirelessly work to maintain a lasting marriage with any financial remuneration or monetary incentive from what anyone would agree sometimes involves unending compromise and hard sacrifices in the quest for marital harmony.
There are few guarantees in life and based on current divorce rates, marriage is certainly not one. Sadly, this cornerstone has eroded over time to the point that nearly half of all marriages that take place in Ghana and elsewhere fail.
Marriage Insurance is in Ghana
Children’s welfare policy, study provider, education plan, etc are some of the policies available in the Ghanaian market one can take against the possibility of a loss – divorce, death and any form of separation that could let one’s children and spouse continue to live a life. But if it is about broken heart, only God can tell how that risk could be transferred to insurers.
Building a divorce-proof marriage
Marriage Insurance may be a comprehensive coverage for protection against divorce though not documented in any insurance policy wording in Ghana.
Divorce comes in various ways – separation and even death. What provision one makes for the offsprings or spouse after divorce are available. Some of these policies mentioned above and investment-linked insurance policies abound in Ghana such that, God forbid, in the event that a marriage breaks down, one can fall on insurers to minimise the degree of loss.
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The only thing insurers cannot guarantee is compensation for broken heart or emotional loss as the case may be.
For the singles who are still contemplating, my advice is for them to get married anyway because it is wrong for a man to be perpetually happy but insurance indirectly gives you some joy in this regard.
Until next week, “This is insurance from the eyes of my mind”.
mzogbenu@yahoo.com