Steve sat down with the folks from Channel 9‘s A Current Affair to speak about funeral insurance.

Funeral insurance is a hot topic at the moment, with some older Aussies feeling taken advantage of. A Current Affair approached myself and LMI Group to weigh in and provide expert advice for a piece that aired last night on Channel 9.

To prepare for this interview, I underwent a rather morbid day of research. This was assisted by our fantastic Policy Comparison team we went to town reading policies and arranging quotes.

Interestingly or perhaps obviously I found that your average 70 year old will pay the full policy benefit in premiums approximately 5-6 years into the policy, an 80 year old in 3 years.

Some of the sales tactics I encountered during my research were a little troubling. With the phone quotes I obtained being pushed with a heavy emphasis on “protecting your family” rather than being presented with the best options for me. For what is a most sensitive topic for most, the guilt trip and pushy sales tactics seem unnecessary.

One concern that I kept hearing raised was that funeral parlours insist on upfront payment. Requiring funds to be available quite quickly. The issue being funds could be frozen until the estate is finalised. However, this is not such an issue as I once thought! The funeral parlour can work with you and the bank to release funds directly to pay the invoice (not an uncommon occurrence.)

The most important take away from all of this is to do your research, talk to your financial adviser and find the best insurance product for you.

As with any TV interview, its always hard to get all of your points across in the limited time you are given. I’d be glad to take any questions in the comments section if you wish any clarification on what was said in this article or the interview.

A big thank you to the PolicyComparison team for help with the research!

I encourage you to read the article and watch the story below.