Burial insurance is an insurance purchased to cover the cost of burial, cremation or other disposal of a deceased remains. Burial insurance can be defined as a type of life insurance: the paid-up capital is used to cover the costs of the funeral services and the cost of merchandise after a person dies.
The subscription of a burial insurance involves several actors:
- The subscriber: the individual who purchases a funeral insurance contract with an insurance company to guarantee the creation of a death benefit – i.e. assets received when the holder of a life insurance policy or pension account passes – on behalf of the beneficiaries.
- The insured: the individual whose death is insured, in some circumstances the insured and the subscriber can be the same person.
- The beneficiary: the individual who has been designated by the policyholder after the death of the insured.
- The insurer: the individual or company who pays the death benefit constituted after the death of the insured.
- The broker: the intermediary between the insurer and the subscriber when the contract is not marketed directly.
[Last updated in November of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]