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Provisions left by the deceased will only cover 70% of their funeral cost
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Friends and family are left to pay £2,449 each which could total £150 million
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One in seven will be forced into debt as a result of paying for a loved ones’ funeral
January is a tough thanks to almost six weeks between paydays, Christmas to pay for and many of us thinking of booking our summer holiday. Now, new research from SunLife has found it’s also the month with the highest funeral bills of the year.
And, because we only make sufficient provision to cover 70% of our own funeral costs, loved ones could be faced with a £150m funeral bill this month putting even more pressure on family finances.
SunLife’s research shows that two in five (42%) don’t make any financial provision for their own funeral, and of those that do, only 70% of the total cost is covered, which leaves friends and family are left to pay the shortfall - £2,449 on average - putting one in seven into financial difficulty.
Of those, half have to borrow money- either from friends or relatives (21%), the bank or a loan provider (8%) or via a credit card (21%) -while one in seven (14%) had to sell belongings.
Graham Jones, Commercial Director at SunLife said: “It can cause loved ones a great deal of added stress at a difficult time if no provisions are in place so it’s important to consider making some plans.
“There are a number of options – the most popular is through savings and investments (60%), while prepaid funeral plans are becoming more popular - 27% had one in place compared to 24% last year while just over a quarter(26%) had a life insurance plan in place.”
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