Funeral insurance companies are giving out incorrect, unclear and potentially misleading information, says financial services authority AFM. Trouw has the story.

The AFM is advising finance minister Jan Kees de Jager to implement a ban on commissions for the sector, the paper writes.
Commissions
The practices of funeral insurers have been under investigation for some time. Commissions depend on the person’s age and the amount for which he has been insured. Commissions in the region of €500 are common. The amount is also influenced by the ‘advisory trajectory’ or sales talk of the insurer.
The AFM feels insurers take far too much time advising the client about the nature of the funeral. It doubts whether they should do so at all. The interest of the client is not best served by someone whose provision depends on the cost of the funeral, according to the watchdog.
Emotions
‘The insurers play on the emotions of the client in order to sell or up a policy, for example by pointing out that the family will have to make up the rest’, the AFM says. ‘People are not fully able to make objective decisions in a situation like this.’
In many cases insurers come back after only a few years to up the policy although clients assume that the policy they bought in the first place would cover the costs.
Funeral insurers also quote ‘unrealistic’ prices which can vary between €9000 and €40,000. An average funeral costs around €6,500.
The AMF is talking to the sector and will publish its complete findings later this year.