SunLife’s Cost of Dying report – a deeper analysis…

Like rain on your wedding day: over 50s life insurance and the cost of funerals

If singer Alanis Morrissette were to write a song about irony today, she’d surely mention the yearly report on the ‘extortionate’ price of death by a company whose funeral financing products can end up costing more than they pay out.

That’s right. Customers of SunLife’s over 50s life insurance products could, according to its website’s Important to know section, end up paying in quite a bit more than they get back.

In our opinion, that is a little too ironic, don’t you think?

We also think this little-known fact makes SunLife’s annual tradition of terrifying society with its Cost of Dying report all the more breathtaking. They really have got a cheek.

Another point that SunLife doesn’t make people aware of in the report is that its over 50s life insurance, which is a fixed-cash sum, loses its buying power over time, due to the effects of inflation.

Consequently, we should all be concerned about the 19 percent of people who told SunLife in the 2024 Cost of Dying report that they had bought life insurance to pay for their funeral.

Let’s hope they only want a direct cremation, because their loved ones could be in for a several-thousand-pounds-shock when they come to arrange the funeral.

Maybe SunLife could write about the funeral prospects of these poor souls in the Cost of Dying report 2025? It would be fascinating.

But we won’t hold our breath. In fact, we can almost guarantee it will continue its tedious tradition of scaring people about the price of funerals in a cynical attempt to make them think about buying over 50s life insurance.

If prospective over 50s life insurance customers are worried, they could look instead at a fully-FCA-regulated prepaid funeral plan.

Arranged with your local independent funeral director, you can be sure that it will cover the full cost of a loved one’s send-off. There’s nothing ironic about that.