# Cost of repatriation of body



## jp1 (Jun 11, 2011)

Sorry to post a morbid query, but it is a situation not yet realised!!

Does anyone have an insurance policy that covers repatriation of a body back to the UK, in the event of death and then cover the funeral, or the other way UK - Spain.

I am trying to get my wife to understand that she has been given misinformation. The arguments we have had over this!!

The background to this:-

My wife is Spanish, living in the UK. Her parents are now deceased, both dying this year. They were simple folks and they had an insurance policy that covered their funeral costs. As my wife was the youngest child, they added her to the policy. Now my wife is under the mistaken believe that this policy will pay for her to be transported from the UK back to Spain as well as covering the cost of her funeral, in the event of her death. This misconception is based on the fact that she was told by a representative of the insurance company that this would be the case. In fact they have a clause to this effect that covers this for an extra payment. A payment of 3 euros a month!!

The problem is that my wife's knowledge of financial matters is zero, and she will not have explained to the insurance guy clearly her situation. When I try to explain it to her she just doesn't get it. Given that she is a UK resident, the probability of dying in the UK is high. She doesn't understand that in insurance terms that means a high premium would be required to cover repatriation costs. Paying an extra premium of 3 Euros a month would take 83 years of payments for the insurance company to cover the cost. ( I have seen a typical cost of around 3000 euros to fly a body from Uk to Spain)

For reference the whole policy is about 100 Euros a year. My wife is in her mid 40's

Is anyone paying for this sort of policy but to be repatriated to the UK?


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

jp1 said:


> Sorry to post a morbid query, but it is a situation not yet realised!!
> 
> Does anyone have an insurance policy that covers repatriation of a body back to the UK, in the event of death and then cover the funeral, or the other way UK - Spain.
> 
> ...


I don't have that kind of policy - but my parents who were UK residents had pre-paid funeral policies there....and my dad died in Spain. Since he had never actually left the UK when he took out the policy, it didn't occur to him that he'd die anywhere other than the UK.

We were quoted 10,000€ to repatriate his body to the UK, & of course that wasn't covered in the policy. We had a cremation here in Spain. 

'Pre-paid funeral' actually meant 'paid for at that funeral home'.... but we found a clause that said that costs could be claimed if the funeral took place elsewhere. It was six months before we received it.

If your wife does decide to pay the extra 3€ a month, tell her to get it in writing that it's repatriation from anywhere in the world..... I can't imagine for one minute that it is - as you say, it just doesn't add up.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Unless she absolutely wants to have a burial in a Spanish cementerio, I would suggest to her that she has a cremation in UK and repatriation of her ashes which can be carried in hand-luggage.


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

baldilocks said:


> Unless she absolutely wants to have a burial in a Spanish cementerio, I would suggest to her that she has a cremation in UK and repatriation of her ashes which can be carried in hand-luggage.


That's what we did when my husband, a resident of Spain, died in the UK. We had a cremation in the UK & brought his ashes home with us as hand luggage.

We needed a certificate from the funeral director to take the ashes on the plane - but that was simply a case of asking for it.


----------



## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Hola 

I have come across this; to say it doesn't add up isn't necessarily correct. Most Spanish I know have a funeral policy from birth; and with the payments add interest over 90 years, and it may well be possible. 

The thing to do is ask the policy issuer 

Davexf


----------



## jp1 (Jun 11, 2011)

10,000 euros for repatriation is the sort of figure I believed was a realistic cost, but I found an estimate for around 3000 Euros. But the devil is always in the detail, I will run with 10k since it's a figure that you have been quoted.

No my wife wants to be buried next to her parents. It's a long way off, hopefully 40 years away.

Anyway, she simply can't comprehend how insurance works. She doesn't understand a risk that is guaranteed to occur, death in the UK, has to be paid for out of premiums. And a 3 euro a month increase will never cover this cost.

It would be easy if I can quote a figure someone is paying for this type of policy and is a similar age.

dafexf,

Without being rude to my wife, she doesn't understand financial products. We are in the fortunate position of not needing a financial product of this nature anyway. In my retirement, never having kids, the problem will be how to get rid of a 7 figure sum, as we won't be leaving an inheritance to anyone.

This policy was taken out by her parents many years ago. She is going to, unnecessarily, keep it running believing that "someone" will ensure her body is transported to Spain if I am not around. It's not the issue of money. it's getting her to understand she is putting faith in a policy that can never meet her wishes of repatriation and enable her to be with her parents.


----------



## Tortuga Torta (Jan 23, 2016)

jp1 said:


> It would be easy if I can quote a figure someone is paying for this type of policy and is a similar age.


I was curious about how this works, and Googled it. This is not Spain/UK-focused, but apparently there was (is?) a Mexican company that does this for Mexican immigrants in the U.S., and the cost in 2005 was reported as $10/year, with a 3 year or 5 year period. 

I think the idea is that for those approved for coverage (non-very-old-or-sick people, I'd imagine), 3-5 years is not a likely period over which the person will die, so it makes sense to insure them.

Can't you just get the policy and read the clause(s) that show that this policy won't be helpful for her?


----------

