6.84 Million Funeral Service Subscribers in the First Half of the Year... Increased by 180,000

Fair Trade Commission Discloses Key Information on Funeral Service Companies in the First Half of 2021
Number of Companies Decreased but Subscribers and Advance Payments Increased

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The number of subscribers to funeral service companies in the first half of this year reached 6.84 million, an increase of 180,000 compared to the second half of last year.

On the 9th, the Fair Trade Commission disclosed the "Key Information on Funeral Service Companies in the First Half of 2021" containing these details.

According to the report, as of the end of March this year, there were 75 registered funeral service companies nationwide, which is 5 fewer than in the second half of last year. On the other hand, the total number of subscribers was 6.84 million, an increase of about 180,000 (2.7%) compared to the information disclosed in the second half of 2020.

The total advance payments also increased by 458.3 billion KRW (7.3%) to 6.6649 trillion KRW. The increase in total advance payments means that the amount paid by new and continuing subscribers exceeded the decrease caused by events and cancellations.

The total advance payments of 47 large companies with over 10 billion KRW in advance payments amounted to 6.5908 trillion KRW, accounting for 98.9% of the total advance payments.

Funeral service companies are obligated to secure 50% of the advance payments received from consumers through consumer damage compensation insurance institutions such as banks, and 71 companies complied with this requirement. Four companies violated the compensation ratio, with their average compensation ratio only reaching 36.9%.

The Fair Trade Commission took measures against 18 companies for violations from October 2020 to March 2021, including 4 cases of prohibited acts by prepaid installment transaction operators, 4 cases of failure to submit materials for information disclosure, and 10 other cases subject to fines.

A Fair Trade Commission official stated, "Although the number of registered companies has decreased, the scale of advance payments has increased by nearly 458.3 billion KRW, and the number of subscribers has increased by about 180,000, showing steady growth in the funeral service industry externally. It is required to strengthen financial soundness and restore consumer trust through efforts to prevent consumer damage in advance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.