Royal London is latest firm to sign up to the Protection Distributors Group’s funeral payment pledge.
The Protection Distributors Group (PDG) has been campaigning for insurers to do more to help bereaved families.
AIG and LV signed up to the pledge earlier this year, Zurich confirmed its support this week and Royal London is now the latest to announce they will also be signing up to the pledge.
As a minimum, the Protection Distributors Group asked for insurers to ensure families can pay funeral costs by committing to the pledge; proactively offering families at claim stage to pay the funeral director where no other arrangements have been made, up to £5,000.
The group has encouraged insurers to look beyond this minimum request and go further to help families, as unfortunately not enough policyholders arrange trusts and/or wills to help their beneficiaries at time of claim.
Debbie Kennedy, group head of protection at Royal London, said: "Payment of a claim is the moment of truth for our customers and it is the single most important thing for us to get right.
"That is why we are signing up to Protection Distributors Group’s funeral payment pledge and will shortly be advancing money to allow funeral arrangements to take place whilst the estate is being settled.
"Not only will this ensure a better claims experience for all customers but it may also avoid people having to go into unnecessary debt to pay for a funeral.”
Emma Thomson head of customer care at LifeSearch and chairman of the Protection Distributors Group, said: “We are very pleased Royal London are to become the latest insurer to sign up to our pledge.
"It is fantastic news for claimants, avoiding the worry some may face of how to pay for a funeral. We look forward to this being launched very soon and we’ve been delighted that insurers have been exceeding our expectations when signing up to the pledge.”
stephanie.hawthorne@ft.com
