Death With Dignity: Start-Up Reengineers Covering Funeral Expenses

In 2019, the Associated Press covered the story of a woman named Darlene Hardison. She had recently lost both her father and uncle and was unable to cover the funeral costs. Her only option was cremation and leaving the funeral home to cover the cost of disposing of the ashes. But to Darlene’s surprise, that never happened. “Authorities later discovered her father and uncle’s cremated remains among nearly 300 others in bags, boxes and other containers inside Cantrell Funeral Home,” on Detroit’s east side. Cantrell Funeral Home was “one of two Detroit funeral homes that police and state licensing officials” had been “investigating for alleged[ ] improperly storing remains.” It was bad enough that Darlene was already in a position where she could not afford to give her father and uncle a dignified funeral. However, learning that the lack of dignity has been perpetuated far beyond that point is unconscionable.

But Darlene isn’t alone. The average cost of a funeral is over $10,000, and as vCERN Fund points out on our website, over 100 million people lack life insurance. This means that when a death event occurs, friends and family are left behind to pick up a nearly $10,000 funeral expense tab. “There’s nothing worse than stressing over money and funeral expenses, when you’re trying to grieve the loss of a loved one,” says one vCERN user. But vCERN provided a real solution to this ever-present problem. Its key components involve a mix of technology, groups of people, and some good-old proactiveness.

Unlike traditional life insurance, vCERN offers individuals, especially those in lower-income communities, a more affordable, simplified way to cover the cost of funerals with no monthly commitments. Most notably, neither age nor health condition would affect a member’s coverage costs. And currently, members have the ability to earn money every time they refer someone to the vCERN platform. “By design, I wanted vCERN to be accessible to all people, regardless of their economic status or background,” says Founder and CEO Ignace Mba.

The process of getting started is simple. Once you subscribe, you’re placed in something called a ‘waiting pool’ for 90 days. The 90-day period is a sort of probationary period designed to protect other verified members from any bad actor attempts to take advantage of the system. During this 90-day period, individuals submit required documentation and complete the verification process so that they can be placed in a pool of 1000 members or more. After the waiting period has ended, the new member’s membership is activated, and they are officially placed into a pool of at least 1000 verified members. When joining the pool, the new member must make their first $20 contribution to help pre-fund the pool. These pre-collected funds make it possible for the pool to payout up to $20,000 in financial coverage in the event of a member’s death. When a member of their pool passes away, the other members are automatically notified, and the pool’s previously collected funds are dispersed to the deceased’s listed beneficiary. Then, the remaining members make another contribution to replenish the pool’s fund.

“This is designed to be a very straightforward, secure system, and one that everyone at every age can follow and understand,” said Mba. “The funded pools are managed by local non-profits and charities, and vCERN is just there to provide the technology that allows people of all economic statuses to be proactive when it comes to covering funeral costs,” says Mba.