The Cost of Death Insurance in Spain: Are Funeral Expenses Covered?

The majority of Spanish families have a death policy that covers the expenses of all funeral services. in the face of the loss of a family member or loved one. Specifically, three out of every four burials are compensated with insurancesomething normal if we take into account that dying is not exactly cheap. 47% of the population has contracted death insurance, according to the Spanish Union of Insurance Entities (UNESPA). These occupy fourth place in the ranking of non-life insurance by amount, behind automobile insurance, health care insurance and multi-risk home insurance, as revealed by the latest report prepared by Insurance and Pension Funds of the General Directorate of Insurance.

Therefore, theOrganization of Consumers and Users (OCU) has carried out a comparative analysis of death policies that shows that The insured will have to pay, with some exceptions and taking into account current life expectancy, a cost significantly higher than that which would entail hiring the services of a funeral home as an individual. If we calculate the total amount of the expenses for the wake, the coffin, the burial or cremation, the flowers, the car, the obituaries, etc., the price could skyrocket. And it is that A simple burial exceeds, on average, 3,700 euros and they cover all expenses: coffin, funeral home, hearse, cemetery, flowers, obituaries, paperwork and procedures, etc. It is also true that there are big differences between cities, and they can exceed 5,000 euros in some of them. This is the case of Madrid, where the cost of these services would reach, on average, 5,200 euros for a simple burial. On the other hand, in the case of incineration, the amount would be even lower, so taking out insurance would be even less profitable.

Of the policies analyzed, only one in 10 would have a price similar to that of a simple burial contracted by an individual. So, The OCU advises against contracting death insurance, since the vast majority are more expensive than directly agreeing on services with a funeral home. In fact, it could cost up to three times more than what a funeral would cost. In its statement, the organization points out that the only advantage of these policies, compared to the basic services contracted directly with a funeral home, is the complementary guarantees they offer. Advantages such as covering transfers of the body from other provinces or even from abroad, formalizing part of the paperwork (death certificate, consultations with the insurance registry…) or travel assistance, although in this case, the coverage is usually limited and sometimes It is limited to serious cases.

Equally, From the organization they think that there are better alternatives to this process and they have shared some such as, for example, saving an amount of money in the bank that will be used to pay said expenses later. Another option would be to take out life insurance, which, as they point out, would not only include the expenses corresponding to death, but would also ensure significant capital with which to assist the families of the deceased. In turn, this alternative normally covers absolute disability.

However, In the event that the insurance is already contracted and there is a short life expectancy, the OCU considers that it is of interest to maintain it. Likewise, if you have recently had a periodic premium policy and do not want to do without it, you could consider changing to a company with a lower cost, although, of course, without terminating the contract. from the first until ensuring that in the second they accept you as an insured without limitations taking into account your current state of health.

In addition, denounce that the registry of death coverage insurance contracts only includes, and not in its entirety, life and accident insurance, without taking into account death insurance. And they criticize that “unless you have access to the policy or the account where the premiums were charged, the only way to know if a deceased relative had death insurance is to call, one by one, more than 50 insurance companies.”