Engage Mutual has launched an updated ‘funeral calculator’ on its adviser community site, enabling intermediaries to access the most up-to-date UK cremation and burial costs.
The updated calculator shows that the average cost for a burial is now £4,690 and £3,239 for a cremation. Engage’s latest research into funeral costs found a 12 per cent increase in the price of cremations, and 9 per cent for burials, since its funeral calculator was launched in 2012.
The firm also found that the majority of purchasers of its ‘over 50s’ life cover want the policy’s lump sum to go towards their funeral to help ensure they do not leave a funeral debt for their families.
Advisers simply enter customers’ postcode to find out the cost of a funeral wherever they live. It shows that Northern Ireland is the cheapest place for a funeral at just over £3,500 whilst the cost of a burial in London is more than double that at £7,490.
The calculator takes into account the cost of items ranging from embalming and grave digging to hiring an organist or placing an obituary, and is based on interviews with over 600 funeral professionals nationwide.
It also predicts how those costs will rise, going up to the year 2044, when the average UK funeral will cost an estimated £9,091 for a cremation or £13,164 for a burial.
Maria Harris, sales director, said that adviser feedback has been positive. She said: “We’re not surprised by that because our own research has shown that nearly two-thirds of our customers have bought their over 50s life cover from us because they wanted a lump sum to put towards their funeral.”
The Guaranteed 50 Plus Life Cover accepts UK residents aged 50 to 80 without a medical and starts from £10 a month, giving a lump sum that can be put towards funeral costs.
