Protected Funeral Payout Plan

Today, the average cost of a funeral is around £4,000⁵. SunLife’s Protected Funeral Payout Plan covers the cost of your chosen funeral services, which can help reduce the financial pressure on your family when the time comes.

Pay-monthly funeral cover can also help if you want to cover funeral costs but don’t have a lump sum to pay in advance. As with any financial decision, there are important things to consider before taking out the plan. Read about our Protected Funeral Payout Plan, including the important information, to make sure you understand our plan.

When you take out a SunLife Protected Funeral Payout Plan, you can relax knowing it comes with protection from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)⁴.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is there to protect your money in the unlikely event that Phoenix Life Limited (who provide the plan) were to go out of business and were therefore unable to meet their obligations. In this instance, you would be able to claim your money back via the FSCS.

Yes – with the traditional funeral option, you can choose a burial instead of a cremation if you wish. In this case, an allowance is provided towards the burial costs instead. The cost of a burial varies widely across the UK. So, while the burial cost allowance does increase each year, we cannot guarantee it will cover the full cost.

The funeral services are provided by Dignity, who have around 750 funeral director branches across the UK. They will allocate a funeral director at the time of need. If your loved ones choose to use your plan to cover funeral services, when you pass away your cover goes directly to the funeral provider. They will then make the chosen funeral arrangements with your family.

Dignity Funerals Ltd are one of the UK’s leading funeral providers. With around 750 funeral director branches all over the country, they offer the highest standards of care. We’ve teamed up with them to provide the funeral services covered in your policy. So, if your loved ones choose to use your Protected Funeral Payout Plan to cover funeral services, the claim will go directly to Dignity when the time comes. They will let your loved ones know where your nearest funeral director is located and will carry out your chosen funeral services.

If a direct cremation is chosen, your funeral services will be provided by Simplicity Cremations, who are part of Dignity, and were named the ‘Best Direct Cremation Provider’ 2018 (Good Funeral Awards 2018).

Dignity (the funeral provider) has around 750 funeral directors all over the country, so if you move house just give us a call on 0800 904 7649 to notify us of your new address, and they will be on hand when the time comes. For direct cremation, this must remain within mainland UK.

The average cost of a basic funeral in the UK today is around £4,000 (based on the average of the cost of a burial and the cost of a cremation in the UK)⁵.

SunLife have carried out comprehensive, annual research over the last 18 years, which shows that funeral costs have more than doubled since then and are predicted to be on average over £5,000 in the next five years. You can find the average cost of burials and cremations in your area by reading our Cost of Dying report.

The SunLife Protected Funeral Payout Plan covers the cost of your chosen funeral services when you pass away – no matter how much you’ve paid in, or how much prices rise.

Premiums are payable for life. If you stop making your monthly payments or cancel, your plan will come to an end, you won’t get anything back, and your chosen funeral services or cash payout will not be provided.

You can only have one Protected Funeral Payout Plan, and you cannot have a Protected Funeral Payout Plan and a Funeral Benefit Option (available with some over 50s life insurance). If you have any questions, please call on 0800 008 6060.

SunLife’s Protected Funeral Payout Plan is a form of over 50s life insurance. Our traditional over 50s life insurance offers a fixed cash payout, whereas the Protected Funeral Payout Plan covers the cost of your chosen funeral services, meaning the payout changes over time in line with funeral costs. Read more about the different options for paying for a funeral in our guide.

If you have a Protected Funeral Payout Plan and no longer require the agreed funeral services, you can choose for a cash payout to be paid to your estate instead. You can write to Phoenix Life Limited, PO Box 1395, Peterborough, PE2 2TR or call 0800 008 6060 to request this.

When your loved ones are making a claim, they can also choose to contact Phoenix to request the cash be paid to them instead of the funeral services provider, if they wish.