How to work out what a funeral will cost

There is no single price for a New Zealand funeral, and any page that gives you one is averaging across choices that are not comparable. What you can do is build the number from its parts, then ring two funeral directors and get real quotes against the same list.

The reason this matters is timing rather than affordability for most families. A funeral is usually arranged within days of a death and invoiced shortly afterwards. Bank accounts in the deceased’s sole name are frequently frozen until probate or a small-estate declaration is completed, which can take weeks or months. So the question is rarely “can the estate afford this”. It is “who writes the cheque this week”.

That is the honest case for funeral cover, and it is a narrower case than the advertising makes it. If there is accessible money — a joint account, a partner’s savings, an existing life policy — the family may not need a separate product at all.

Build your own list from these lines. Some will not apply, and there are choices at almost every one.

• The funeral director’s professional service fee — the core charge for arranging and conducting the funeral.
• Transfer and care of the person who has died, including mortuary care.
• Casket or coffin, which spans an enormous range.
• Cremation fee, or a burial plot and interment fee. Plot costs vary widely by council and cemetery.
• Medical certificates required before cremation.
• Venue hire, celebrant or clergy, and music.
• Death notices, service booklets and flowers.
• Catering for the gathering afterwards.
• Headstone or memorial plaque, which often comes months later and is frequently left out of the estimate.

These are the details that decide whether the cover does what you expected. Read them before you compare on price.

• Quotes that show only the professional fee and leave disbursements to be added later.
• Burial plot costs, which are set by councils and vary far more than people expect.
• The memorial or headstone, which usually arrives after the family has stopped budgeting.
• Whether the estate can actually access funds quickly, or whether probate stands in the way.
• On funeral insurance: whether you will pay in more than the sum insured if you live a long time.
• On prepaid funerals: how the money is held, whether it is transferable, and what happens if the firm changes hands.

Every New Zealand insurer writes funeral insurance to its own wording, and the words are where the money is. Two policies that look identical on price can pay very differently when it matters. Closing that gap is the entire job of an adviser.

• An adviser can tell you whether existing life cover already handles this, which is common and often forgotten.
• They can compare underwritten funeral cover against guaranteed acceptance, which is usually much better value.
• They will check policy ownership and beneficiary nominations so money reaches the family without waiting for probate.
• They can size a small life policy for final costs rather than selling a standalone funeral product by default.

There are three ways to buy life cover in New Zealand, and they are not equivalent. You can buy direct from one insurer, which means you see one product range and one underwriting appetite. You can buy through your bank, which usually means a single insurer’s product sold under the bank’s brand, often with narrower definitions. Or you can go through an adviser, who quotes several insurers at once and is required to put your interests first.

The premium you pay is the same either way. Insurers build adviser commission into their pricing whether or not an adviser is involved, so going direct does not get you a discount — it just removes the person whose job is to argue your corner at application and at claim time.

• An adviser can see which insurer is currently taking your health history on standard terms, and which one will load or exclude it.
• An adviser can structure cover across two insurers if that produces a better outcome than putting everything with one.
• An adviser handles the underwriting back-and-forth, and is the person who chases the claim when a family is least able to.
• An adviser has to document why the recommendation suits you, which is a written record you can hold them to.

We are a referral service, not an insurer. We do not quote premiums and we do not sell policies. What we do is put you in front of one licensed New Zealand adviser who can compare the market properly.

1. 1

   You tell us what you are looking at

   The form takes about a minute. Nobody asks for your medical history on a web form — that conversation happens with the adviser, properly, and only once you have decided to proceed.

2. 2

   An adviser calls you

   A licensed New Zealand adviser talks through your situation: who depends on you, what you owe, what you already have in place, and what you are actually worried about.

3. 3

   They compare the market

   The adviser quotes across the major insurers, checks which of them will take your health history on the best terms, and puts the options side by side in writing.

4. 4

   You decide, in your own time

   There is no obligation and no cost to you. If the answer is that you already have enough cover, a good adviser will tell you that.