Funeral cover for couples usually means two over-50s policies, one each, rather than one shared policy: SunLife, Aviva and Legal & General each say their plan cannot be taken out jointly, while British Seniors offers a "joint plan" that is really two policies run together. Because each of these plans insures one person, a wider family means one plan per person.

If you are arranging a funeral now, help with the bill may exist already. For people on certain benefits, GOV.UK describes a Funeral Expenses Payment towards the costs (Northern Ireland has its own claim route), and in Scotland the Funeral Support Payment has replaced it. Both usually fall short of the full cost, and GOV.UK also lists the person's estate as a way to pay, so the bill does not always fall on you personally.

Whenever it suits you, with no hurry, the short enquiry form here lets a broker the FCA has authorised ring you back at no charge and go through what a couple could be offered.

Can two people share one funeral insurance policy?

Mostly not, and the insurers' own words differ by brand. These are over-50s life insurance plans, which pay a cash sum when the insured person dies; they are not prepaid funeral plans, a separate product explained in the funeral plans and funeral costs guides. Each row below is the insurer's direct or key-facts version, read in October 2026.

Plan (document)What it says about couples
SunLife Guaranteed Over 50 Plan (web page, payout table "Correct as at October 2025")"Unfortunately, we don't offer joint policies, but your partner can also take out a plan in their name if they wish to."
Aviva Over 50s Life Insurance (web page, WC05649 09/2026)"you can’t take this policy out jointly. You can only take it out for a single person." A partner can apply for their own.
Legal & General Over 50s Fixed Life Insurance (web page, reviewed 8 June 2026)A partner can apply if aged 50 to 80 and a UK resident, "as the plans are set up individually, they cannot be held in joint names."
British Seniors Over 50s Life Insurance, underwritten by Aviva (key facts, BSIA KFO50 v4.2 LIVE JAN26)Cover "for you together with a partner life insured under a joint plan", where "A joint plan comprises of two policies, one for each life insured".

So the choice is less "joint or single" than whether the two policies are bought separately or administered together. Under British Seniors' joint plan only the policy holder, not the partner, can make changes, and each of you can pick your own amount of cover within its limits. The ordinary-life version of the joint question is on joint or individual life insurance.

What each partner's policy pays, and when

Each policy pays a fixed sum, chosen at the start, when the person it insures dies. British Seniors' key facts say "The lump sum payment is provided on the death of each life insured", so a joint plan pays twice, once for each of you, not once for the first death.

The first 12 months work differently. On the joint plan a non-accidental death in that period returns only the premiums paid towards that person's cover, while an accidental death pays "Two times the benefit amount". Aviva's and Legal & General's direct plans also refund premiums for a non-accidental death in the first year and pay the full cover amount after an accident; the detail is on funeral cover waiting periods.

Amounts are limited too: Legal & General allows several over-50s policies for one person only while their total cash sum stays at £10,000 or less. How much a couple wants depends on the funeral they have in mind; average funeral costs gives survey figures. Its page also says the plan "is not designed to meet the full costs of a funeral, and does not guarantee to do so".

Two plans, two premiums: what a couple might pay

With one plan per person, a couple's cost is two premiums. SunLife publishes the clearest example, for one non-smoking new customer paying £20 a month, "Correct as at October 2025":

Partner's age at the startCash sum £20 a month bought (SunLife's October 2025 example)
55£4,959
65£3,647
75£1,985

It is SunLife's illustration, a year old, not a quote or a price you will be offered. If both partners chose £20, the household would pay £40 a month, £480 a year, and the older partner would be buying the smaller sum. British Seniors lists whether a plan is single or joint among the things that set its premium, alongside the benefit amount, age, smoking and any increasing option; whether the joint route would cost the pair of you less than two single plans is a question the broker can answer with real figures on the call-back.

Paying in for two: premiums against the payout

Depending on how long each of you lives, premiums can add up to more than the cash sum; SunLife's terms and Aviva's page both say so. For a couple that test applies twice, once to each policy, and the partner who lives longer may pay for many years.

A hypothetical, from SunLife's published terms only, shows the scale. Premiums stop at the policy anniversary after your 95th birthday, or at death if sooner. A non-smoker starting at 65 on £20 a month in October 2025, who survived the first year and lived to 95, would pay about 30 years of premiums: 30 x 12 x £20 = £7,200, against the illustrated £3,647. That is a calculation, not a prediction: most people do not live to 95, and a non-accidental death in the first year would instead see the premiums returned.

The cash sum stays the same however long you pay. Legal & General's words are "The cash sum is fixed, so inflation will reduce it's buying power in the future", and SunLife and Aviva each say the same, so a plan bought now may cover less of a funeral later. Is over-50s life insurance worth it weighs that trade.

Best or cheapest funeral cover for a family or extended family

No plan is cheapest or best for every family, because each plan above insures one person: a parent, sibling or grown-up child would need a plan on their own life, usually priced on their own age and smoking, and insuring someone else has its own rules (see life insurance on someone else). Which providers would take an older relative is something the broker can talk through with you free. How providers' plans compare feature by feature is on funeral cover compared.

Frequently asked questions

What happens to the second person's cover if one partner dies?

Under British Seniors' joint plan, the remaining person "can continue their cover and pay the required premiums under a single plan should they wish to do so", on the same terms, and a surviving partner becomes the policy holder. With SunLife, Aviva or Legal & General each partner's plan is already separate, so it simply carries on.

Can my partner and I choose different amounts of cover?

Yes. On the British Seniors joint plan you "can both apply for individual amounts of cover", from a £1,000 minimum each. With separate plans, each of you chooses your own sum or monthly premium.

If you would like cover for the two of you, or a relative, looked at properly, sending the short form here costs nothing and commits you to nothing; a broker the FCA authorises then phones to go through it.

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