Losing a loved one can be devastating. So, when you pass away, the last thing you want is for your family to have to worry about how they’re going to pay for your funeral. With a Funeral Insurance Plan, you can help ease some of that financial stress for your loved ones at an emotional time. The British Seniors Funeral Insurance Plan is a life insurance policy designed to provide a lump sum to your loved ones to help with funeral costs or other expenses when the time comes. It is not a pre-paid funeral or a funeral plan. It can help your family to cover funeral costs and give you the send-off that you really want. With a Funeral Insurance Plan in place, you can feel proud knowing you’ve done something great for the people you love.
How does a Funeral Insurance Plan work?
Based on our research into UK funeral costs, we offer three different levels of Funeral Insurance Plans with different life insurance benefit amounts. That way, you can easily choose the cover that suits your individual needs and wishes. Simply choose an amount of cover that you’re happy with and when you pass away your legal beneficiary will receive the money to help them with funeral costs and/or other expenses.
Gold
Offers a life insurance benefit of £5,500 from £19.28 per month.1
- Provides a benefit amount that could help with the average cost of a funeral2
- Option of adding up to £4,500 of extra cover depending on your age
Silver
Offers a life insurance benefit of £4,000 from £14.30 per month.1
- Provides a benefit amount that could help with the average cost of a more ‘basic’ funeral2
- Option of adding up to £6,000 of extra cover depending on your age
Bronze
Offers a life insurance benefit of £2,000 from £7.65 per month.1
- Provides a benefit amount that could help with the average cost of a direct cremation2
- Option of adding up to £8,000 of extra cover depending on your age
Once you have decided what plan you would like and your application is accepted, you’ll pay a monthly premium until you pass away. A feature of the British Seniors Funeral Insurance Plan is that your benefit amount and premium will automatically increase every year on the anniversary of your policy. The idea behind this is to help your policy keep up with rising funeral costs2, and help offset some of the effects of inflation on your payout amount.
How it works is that your life insurance benefit amount will increase by 3.5% and your monthly premium will increase by 5% each year. If you would like you can choose to opt out of these increases in which case your benefit amount and premium will remain fixed for that year. If you opt out of three increases in a row, your benefit and premium will remain permanently fixed for the remaining duration of your policy.
Your cover will stay in place as long as you keep up with your premiums, and when the time comes, your family can email us to make a claim. We aim to make this process as simple and straightforward and possible for your loved ones, so they’ll have one less thing to worry about.
How is it different to a pre-paid funeral plan?
While both Funeral Insurance Plans and pre-paid funeral plans can help your loved ones to pay for your funeral, these are some of the key differences between them:
Funeral Insurance Plan
- You pay a monthly insurance premium
- Your chosen beneficiary will only receive the payout after you have passed away. Whilst the payout amount and cost will increase each year, unless you opt out of the increases, inflation may still reduce the value of the cover.
- Your loved ones will still need to plan for your funeral and if your family would prefer to use the payout to help with other things like bills and debts, they can do so.
- The payout can be used for more than just your funeral, and isn’t tied to a specific funeral director
Pre-paid Funeral Plan
- You pay for your entire funeral upfront or in instalments
- You agree on a price for your funeral at today’s prices and choose the elements you’d like to include in advance - which means you won’t have to worry about the possible impact of inflation.
- A pre-paid plan can remove the burden of planning your funeral from your loved ones and provide you with the certainty that your funeral is paid for before you pass away.
- A pre-paid Funeral Plan can only be used for your funeral, and you are tied to a specific funeral director.
If you already have a pre-paid funeral plan, and you’d like to leave a little extra for your loved ones, you can still decide to get a Funeral Insurance Plan.
Why should I choose a Funeral Insurance Plan?
Unfortunately, according to our Funeral Report 2023, the cost of a funeral has been increasing and shows no signs of slowing down. We found that people paid an average of £4,515 for a funeral over the last 5 years and depending on what kind of send-off you want the costs could rise to £13,622. If you were to pass away suddenly with no protection in place, your family may struggle to come up with the funds.
With a Funeral Insurance Plan in place, you can help ensure that this doesn’t happen. We understand that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach won’t cut it when it comes to something as important as protecting your family. That’s why with British Seniors, each of our Funeral Insurance Plans are flexible, so you can easily find cover that suits your lifestyle.
What's covered?
Sadly, we can’t be there for our families when we die. But we can help you to provide financial support when the Sadly, we can’t be there for our families when we die. But we can help you to provide financial support when the time comes. The payout from a Funeral Insurance Plan could be used to help cover some of the costs associated with a funeral. As soon as your policy is in place, you’re covered for accidental death in the first 12 months, and after that your cover extends to death by any cause. If you pass away from a non-accidental death in the first 12 months, we will refund any payments already made.
If you take out a Funeral Insurance Plan with British Seniors, you’ll also receive:
- A free Will Kit with your policy to help you get your affairs in order
- A gift voucher worth £135 from either M&S, Tesco or Amazon.co.uk*
- Unlimited access to our FREE Health and Wellbeing Services3
Am I eligible?
As long as you’re aged between 50-80 and you’re a UK resident, you’re guaranteed to be accepted. That means that we won’t ask you to complete a medical or provide us with details of a health check – getting cover is that simple. If your death is the result of an accident, your family will receive twice your benefit amount.
You also have the option to apply for a single policy, or a joint policy for you and your spouse or civil partner. If you choose a joint policy, there will be two payouts. One for each death of the lives insured.
How much will it cost?
How much your cover costs will depend on which plan you choose and how much of a benefit amount you would like. Your age, smoker status, and whether you choose a joint plan or not will also impact the cost.
Which plan you decide to go for depends on how much money you would like to leave behind to help cover funeral costs or other expenses. Our monthly premiums start at just £7.65 a month for £2,000 of cover. So, you can have some peace of mind that when the time comes your family will have some financial support when they need it most.
Things to consider
- British Seniors Funeral Insurance Plan is a life insurance policy designed to provide a lump sum to your loved ones to help with funeral costs and/or other expenses when the time comes. It is not a pre-paid funeral or a funeral plan
- Consider the benefit amount you choose as inflation may reduce its buying power over time. This may also result in the cover chosen not being sufficient to pay for funeral expenses in full when the time comes
- You may pay in more than we pay out
- If you stop your monthly payments, you will get nothing back
What benefit amount can I secure based on my age?
The size of the benefit amount you can choose will depend on what plan you decide to go with. On top of your benefit amount, you also have an option to include an extra cash sum if you want. How much you can get will also depend on which plan you choose and your age.
If you decide to include an extra cash sum, your benefit amount and extra cash sum amount cannot exceed the total max benefit amount as set out below, which we’ve referred to as ‘Max Combined Benefit Amount’:
| Age at start date | Max Combined Benefit Amount |
| 50-69 | £10,000 |
| 70-74 | £9,000 |
| 75-80 | £6,000 |
Benefit amounts available with each plan:
| Plan | Benefit Amount |
| Gold | £5,500 |
| Silver | £4,000 |
| Bronze | £2,000 |
So, for example: If you are a 60-year-old who takes out a Gold Funeral Insurance Plan, you can take out £4,500 of extra cover. This would mean that your total benefit amount is now £10,000.
How do I apply?
While it might be uncomfortable to think about your own funeral, the sooner you do, the sooner you can make arrangements to help protect your loved ones when you’re gone.
If you’re considering a Funeral Insurance Plan, you can get a quote online or by phone in minutes. Our friendly UK-based team are on hand to answer any questions you may have and to help you find the right plan for your needs. You can read all our customer reviews to see what people have to say about getting covered with British Seniors. Once you’re happy with your chosen cover and premium amount, you can take out your plan right there and then.