You see them advertised everywhere it seems, and as it turns out these policies might just be one off the biggest money-wasters for consumers in the insurance world.

It is understandable that some people don't want their loved ones to have to pay for their funeral but before you decide to buy one of these policies why not discuss it with them first? Some loved ones might be happy to pay when the time comes and prefer you enjoyed the money you'd be spending in premiums.

And if you already have a life insurance policy you might find you already have "funeral cover" or can convert a portion of your existing life insurance policy to funeral cover at no cost.

Consumer NZ looked into these in 2016 and this is what they had to say:

“Funeral insurance marketing plays on people’s fears about being a burden on their families. But it is easy to end up paying thousands more in premiums that the insurance policy will pay out” according to Sue Chetwin. Consumer NZ reviewed 10 policies offering $10,000 funeral cover for a 64-year-old and the review found that by age 84 the amount paid in premiums exceeded the $10,000 cover with most policies. In some case the insured person would have paid twice what they were entitled to be paid out.

Remember that if you stop paying the premiums your policy will lapse and you'll get nothing, irrespective of how much you've paid in. There are no refunds. Some policies pay out the amount insured - or whatever you've paid in premiums - whichever is higher. But you have to keep paying the premiums until you die. If you have a policy for $10,000 and you've already paid $10,000 or more in premiums if you stop you will get nothing. You have to keep paying those premiums to get anything back.

So it turns out that this type of life insurance just might be one of the most expensive ways to pay for a funeral if you end up having average life expectancy.

Why insurance is important, you never know when you might need it.

Insurance is viewed by many as a necessary evil, in the perfect world it would be nice to be covered for everything but unless you have several thousand dollars to cover the premium that is just not feasible in the real world.

What should insurance cover?  Most people use insurance to cover their debts i.e. their mortgage and this isn’t just the accident cover that the mortgage broker or bank will try and sell you at point of entry. You need life cover to pay off the debt in the unfortunate event of your death. Then if possible it would be nice to give a lump sum to help your partner or children through their life – this could cover educational fees or setting up a business for your now single partner. The alternative is a possible forced sale of the property to cover the debt which just adds to the current stress levels.

The most important asset you have is your income but very few people cover this, ask yourself what would happen if your income ceased today? You need cover for this, but which type indemnity or agreed value, put simply do you want to know how much the insurance company will pay out at claim time or do you want to have to provide proof at time of claim? I know which one I would prefer.

Health is another area to cover, not the whole shooting match but just the basics, hospital and specialist should suffice, you can get a more comprehensive package but it all costs.

Imagine if your employer gave you choice in the salary package that you could take. 

For example, what if you were given the following to choose from?

a.  Annual Salary = $50,000 plus 4 weeks annual leave, plus 7 days annual sick leave;   OR;
b.  Annual salary = $48,500, plus 4 weeks annual leave, plus 7 days annual sick leave PLUS 75% of your income is guaranteed until age 65 if you get too sick (or hurt) to be able to come back to work again.

Think about your choice carefully. 

You could get paid the top salary and take all the risk yourself of being able to go to work each day and continue earning an income.  Or you could forego a little of the income – but not your other employment benefits – in return for a guarantee that regardless of what happens to your future health you will keep earning money through your working life.

That is an enormous amount of potential risk that you can pass to somebody else if you want to, or you can choose to keep all the income and all the risk for yourself. 

Put some simple numbers around it to help weigh up the options.  If you are 45 and earning $50,000 p.a. through until age 65 then that is an even $1,000,000 in future income at risk – all dependent on you staying healthy and being able to go to work of course.  Would you be willing to trade perhaps 3% of that to secure most of your future income for the rest of your working life?

In a recent NZ Herald article lung cancer has been termed as the deadliest cancer and talks about lack of treatment options here in New Zealand. Lung cancer is attributed to killing five Kiwis a day, making it a top killer among other cancers including breast and prostate cancer.

In a comparison between NZ and Australia, it is reported that while our neighbours have access to 11 publicly funded non-small cell lung cancer treatments, we have only three. The new treatment approval process in NZ is painfully slow compared to other OECD countries. For instance on average within the OECD the cancer treatment approval process took less than 250 days but would take more than 1,500 days in NZ, stated Philip Hope - Chief Executive of the Lung Foundation.

For cancer patients another option for treatment is to go the non-PHARMAC treatment route. So what’s the difference between PHARMAC and non-PHARMAC? To put simply, PHARMAC drugs are the ones which are funded by the New Zealand government under the public healthcare system and that have been approved by Medsafe. There are a lot of drugs that are not PHARMAC funded but are Medsafe-approved - we call these non-PHARMAC drugs.

Non-PHARMAC drugs could be the most appropriate treatment for patients for a range of reasons. But they can be very, very expensive. Non-PHARMAC benefits in health insurance provide funding for non-PHARMAC medicines – creating greater choice in treatment when it’s needed. nib Ultimate Health Max provides cover for non-PHARMAC drugs up to $300,000 (and $600,000 if treatment includes surgery). There is also a $20,000 non-PHARMAC benefit under both nib's Ultimate Health and Easy Health policies.

Source: NZ Herald and nib Insurance.

Insurance that provides a monthly payment covering the cost of your mortgage if you can't work due to a total disability.

Protecting what is for most people their greatest personal asset

Does your mortgage (or the prospect of one) feel like a weight on your shoulders? Imagine how much heavier that weight would feel if you were unable to work and couldn't meet your monthly repayments?

Consider that you may be forced to sell your home – something no one wants to face when they are unwell.

Protecting your mortgage is common sense – it's the one thing you can do to ensure that no matter what happens to you, your home and family is secure.