Prague, June 25 (CTK) – Czechs are superstitious and tend to shun discussions on their own death and posthumous affairs at home, as a result of which a half of people do not know about the life insurance their close relatives pay in order to secure the family in case they died, daily Pravo writes Thursday.
It gives an example of a 35-year-old woman, referred to as Alena, whose husband suddenly died, leaving her with two small children, apparently without sufficient financial means.
“As late as one year after my husband’s death, I learnt that he had signed a life insurance deal in my favour,” Alena told the paper, adding that the insurance sum she received saved her and her children from falling into total poverty in the last moment.
A poll conducted by the NN pojistovna insurance company has shown that there are many Czechs who may face a situation similar to Alena’s sooner or later, Pravo writes.
It turned out that one in two Czechs do not speak about their life insurance contracts or other financial deals at home, out of superstitiousness. They would not speak of what would happen if they died.
In the case of childless couples, only one third of people inform their close relatives about their financial deals, Pravo writes.
“However, it is life insurance that should protect people in the case of unexpected events,” Katerina Sterbova, from NN pojistovna, told the paper.
The husband of Alena had a high income that comfortably covered the young family’s spending. Alena could afford to stay at home with their children and care for the household. After the kids grew up a bit, she accepted a part-time job, Pravo writes.
Her husband’s death turned her life upside down. Not only she lost her beloved partner. She was unable to support her family from her own income, though she found a better paid job.
Alena was considering selling their flat and seeking cheaper housing, when a letter addressed to her husband arrived, in which an insurance company urged her husband to cover his life insurance fees.
Alena thus found out that her husband had a life insurance contract that said in case of his death the insurance money would be paid to his widow, Pravo writes.
The poll showed that nine in ten Czechs do not disclose their banking account or insurance service access data to their close relatives.
However, over one third of people keep these data in a way to enable their family’s access to them in case of their death, the poll showed.
“If the surviving relatives know that the deceased had life insurance but do not know the access passwords, they should turn to the insurer, producing the deceased person’s ID and death certificate. The insurer would thus learn about the client’s death and start the relevant procedure,” Sterbova told Pravo.
