Funeral Cover Calculator

Costs change with the choices you make: burial or cremation, a municipal cemetery or a private memorial park, a small family gathering or a large one with catering, and whether the tombstone is unveiled later. Write down the funeral you would want for each person you plan to insure. A parent, a child and the main breadwinner may each need a different amount.

Use the worksheet below. Fill in a figure for each line from a written quote, then add them.

Cemetery and crematorium fees are set by the municipality and differ a lot between cities. Residents often pay far less than non-residents.

We have not checked every municipality. Phone the cemetery office for the current tariff, and ask whether your family qualifies for the resident rate.

These are estimates from companies that sell cover, so treat them as a rough guide, not an independent survey.

1Life says a funeral costs R35 000 to R45 000 on average with a municipal burial plot, and more than R50 000 with a private memorial park. It puts an adult burial plot at R2 000 to R11 000 in a municipal cemetery, depending on the location and whether the deceased was a resident of the municipality.

Legal&Tax, an insurer, said in April 2025 that funeral costs range from R3 000 to R50 000 by income level, and from R70 000 to R84 000 when catering for 50 guests is included. It cites Cover magazine for this.

TributePoint, a funeral directory, says a direct cremation costs R5,000 to R8,000 and a basic municipal burial with a chipboard coffin and community catering R10,000 to R15,000. These are commercial ranges from funeral homes, not a survey.

An unveiling is often paid for separately from the funeral. TributePoint says there is no legal deadline for erecting a tombstone and that many families wait 6 to 12 months. Everest Funerals, a funeral home, says an unveiling most commonly happens 6 months after the burial and puts a modest one for 50 to 80 guests at R15,000 to R40,000. That is a commercial figure with little independent support, so get your own quotes. Decide early whether your cover should include the unveiling or whether the family will save for it separately.

Other sources may pay towards a funeral, but most pay after the family has already paid, so they lower the burden rather than replace cash on the day.

• GEPF: for deaths after 31 March 2024 the Government Employees Pension Fund pays R20 000 for a member, pensioner or spouse and R8 000 per eligible child. The benefit is taxable, cannot be paid until SARS issues a tax directive, and is not paid to an undertaker directly.
• Road Accident Fund: refunds listed costs such as the coffin, embalming, burial or cremation and grave fees, but only after the family has paid. It does not cover catering, flowers, a tombstone or hire of chairs and tents.
• Compensation Fund: a Fund official said in January 2023 that the funeral benefit is R18 251 for deaths on or after 1 April 2018. We could not re-confirm the current figure.
• SASSA: there is no separate funeral grant. If the grant was not withdrawn in the month of death, the family member who paid for the funeral can claim the unclaimed amount.
• Other cover: an employer's group scheme, a burial society or an older policy. Check each one's waiting period and payout limit.

Funerals often cost more than planned once extra mourners, travel and price changes arrive. Add a buffer to your total, and lean towards rounding up rather than down.

The cover needed for each person is the funeral total, plus the buffer, minus the money you can count on. Then check the limits. By law a funeral policy can pay at most R100 000 per life insured, per insurer, and that base amount rises each year with inflation. Insurers also cap cover for children by age. Metropolitan, for example, says claims for children under 6 are limited to R20 000 and for children aged 6 to 14 to R50 000. Each insurer's own plan limits are lower than the legal maximum in many cases, so check the comparison table.

Ask two or three insurers for a quote for your chosen amount for each life. Some insurers, such as African Bank, have a calculator on their product page that estimates a total premium from the cover amount and the family members.

Choose a premium you can keep paying for years. If you miss a premium, the insurer must tell you within 15 days, and cover must stay in force for 15 days after the due date for monthly premiums. A policy that lapses can leave the family with nothing. If an insurer reinstates a lapsed policy, it must be on at least the same terms with no new waiting period. If the full amount is too expensive, cover a slightly lower amount that you can sustain.

Costs rise with inflation. Cape Town's 2025/26 grave and cremation tariffs rose by between 4.40% and 4.66%, for example. Premiums and cover also rise on some policies: Clientele says premiums escalate by 10% and benefits by 6% each year, and FNB says premiums rise 8% and cover 5% each year. Review your amounts when tariffs change, when you add or remove family members, and when your income changes.