The cost of dying has risen by 61 per cent in seven years, according to a new survey by insurer Sun Life Direct.
A lack of life insurance and planning leaves many families struggling to cover the costs involved, such as funeral arrangements, headstones and probate costs.
Families must now shell out an average of £7,248 when a loved one dies and more than a quarter of those questioned by Sun Life said they had made no plans for this.
Funeral costs seem to be among those that have increased the most sharply and the insurance firm says that these costs are likely to continue to rise and that consumers should account for this by ensuring they have life cover.
Sun Life Direct’s Head of Life Planning, Simon Cox, said, “As a nation we need a wake-up call. Our research indicates that although there is indeed openness to talking about death, action is still greatly lacking. Steps need to be taken to avert the sort of distress and concern experienced by the nearly one-in-five (100,000) people who struggle with funeral costs.”
Figures show that by 2013, 80,000 more people each year will die, which suggests that the infrastructure in place to deal with end-of-life care may need to be reviewed.
