Disappointed in the long term policy value of a funeral policy

It is very disappointing when your parents have passed away, and you only find out then that a funeral policy that was paid in full for many years, the value for this policy you can do nothing for your parent. Surely after having their money for so many years, it should have grown with interest, or atleast have provided us with the value of the original policy taken, so that we could carry out our parent's wishes.