Nova Scotia is now allowing its citizens to purchase insurance in funeral homes to fund prearranged funerals with fewer restrictions, making it the first Atlantic province to do so.
Previously, if an individual perished too soon or he/she failed to declare a pre-existing condition, that person might not qualify for any coverage. Nova Scotia’s rule changes, which took effect September 01, give consumers more options for funeral insurance and reduces red tape for funeral homes.
The idea of preplanning a funeral is not new in Nova Scotia. Prior to the rule changes, some funeral homes offered the option to prefund memorial services with a trust company. A consumer could prepay a funeral home either in full or in installments. The money would then be placed in trust, where it would be guaranteed to cover funeral expenses when needed and protected until the consumer passed away.
“All we’re doing now is looking at the option of instead of funneling all those monies to a trust company we can now send it to an insurance company and they can look after the financial aspects of it,” funeral home owner and Nova Scotia Board of Registration of Embalmers and Funeral Directors chairman Adam Tipert told
CBC News.
With funeral insurance, the money is put into an account under the client’s name and remains protected until the memorial services take place, similar to a trust system. Unlike putting money in a trust, however, funeral insurance carries over even if a client’s funeral home closes down or is sold before any services can be performed; the money is protected and the client can start another pre-arranged agreement with another funeral home.
In addition to allowing payments to carry over, funeral insurance can mean more flexible payments that can make it easier to afford a prearranged service, commented Rodger Gregg, registrar of Cemetery and Funeral Services with Service Nova Scotia.
Gregg told
CBC News that Nova Scotia changed its stance on funeral insurance at the request of both the memorial and insurance industries to bring the province “in line with the rest of the country.” At present, B.C., Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec permit the sale and purchase of funeral insurance coverage.
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