This paper shows that funeral insurance is one of the most popular microinsurance products in a number of countries. While being part of the broader microinsurance market, it also has a number of particular features. Funeral insurance is not just insurance business as usual and requires a dedicated understanding of the dynamics driving funeral insurance markets. This applies to both insurers seeking to effectively target and distribute it, as well as for regulators seeking to find the right regulatory approach to it. Often, these dynamics relate to the underlying funeral service. The funeral service channel may drive demand, distribution and underwriting of funeral insurance. The link to the funeral service creates a tangible benefit for funeral insurance that engenders trust and provides real value, but that can also lead to vulnerability to consumer abuse. Increasingly, insurers are starting to focus on ways to provide better value by adding elements beyond pure funeral insurance. In this way, funeral insurance is evolving into life insurance that can form the basis for asset formation and intergenerational transfers.