prepayment funeral plan

NAR

Pretani wrote: »

Naaa, I've bought a plot and headstone,

Bit of a waste if you get cremated!! :rotfl::rotfl:

Pretani

I'll not be burnt before my time:D

oneknight

Big PLC or not, the service I received was excellent. Thats what counts right?

adtheblue

I've got a pre-paid funeral with the Co-op. Not sure if they cover NI but I wanted to make sure that my money would be safe and the company wouldn't go bust.

ballyblack

I wanted to make sure that my money would be safe and the company wouldn't go bust.

Both the small independents and the large chain funeral directors sell plans that are covered by the Financial Services Act

The money goes into a 'covered bond' so it is perfectly safe guaranteed by the FSA (government)

Its a matter of personal choice but I have made arrangements through a smaller independent funeral director

Old_Git

I spoke from two local undertakers .
One quoted £3200 but didn't seen very professional .No choice off coffin offered plus I would have to pay to have the existing grave opened and pay for the clergy at the time .
Second undertaker has to come back with a price but seem much more professional .

Old_Git

bump update .
Well I have it all done ,I uses the local independent undertaker
it worked as follows
Profession services
including coffin ,hearse ,limousine ,chapel of rest ,
embalming , removal and all transfers £2250

death notice in paper for 2 days £165
opening grave £200
seal grave and additional
lettering to headstone £275
soloist/organist £100
2 Clergy £120

Total cost £3110

I had to option to include flowers and pay for a meal afterwards ,I said no thanks .

OnAndUp

I feel that it's very important on a website like MSE, people see the harsh realities of these funeral plans, as people may otherwise have read this thread and thought that Golden Charter's funeral plans were good as no-one else had posted otherwise.

I have recently had dealings with Golden Charter after my Grandad passed away. I just wanted to share my experience so people make sure they know how these plans work.

He purchased their Standard Plan for £1050 in 1999 which is now supposed to be worth £2700 if you took the plan out today. You really have to read the small print as things that you would naturally expect to be covered for a funeral are not.

It makes me so mad :mad: he died obviously thinking that he had paid for everything, which would be the whole point of taking out one of these policies. We went with everything on the Standard Plan that he had chosen not changing anything. BUT there is still another £600+ to be paid.

It's SO wrong, the £600+ is broken down into:
£165 for the Church fees, heating & organist
£40 leaflets
£100 to put the notice in the 2 local papers where he lived
£250 to purchase a grave (you can't exactly have a funeral burial without one!)
£50 for conveyance of the body to the chapel of rest as he died on a Saturday i.e. out of "normal office hours" (that one makes my blood boil the most!).

None of these things are extravagant or even in addition to what most people consider the norm for a funeral.

I'm quite good at understanding financial documents but even I would have been a bit fooled by the way they market it. There are graphs showing how the amount you pay will meet the shortfall for the cost of a funeral when you die.

There is a sheet with the glossy brochure -
10 Important Questions
Question 1. Does the Funeral Plan Guarantee that my family or estate will never be asked for another penny? YES - Once your plan is paid for, there will be nothing more to pay for the selected arrangements unless you change the plan details.

Obviously we never changed the plan details or any of the arrangements but "selected arrangements" is the clever misleading wording in that statement.

I would just like this to be a warning to everyone who buys one of these type of plans to make sure you know exactly what you are paying for and make sure you read the small print and if your not sure about anything ASK!

OnAndUp

Old_Git wrote: »

bump update .
Well I have it all done ,I uses the local independent undertaker
it worked as follows
Profession services
including coffin ,hearse ,limousine ,chapel of rest ,
embalming , removal and all transfers £2250

death notice in paper for 2 days £165
opening grave £200
seal grave and additional
lettering to headstone £275
soloist/organist £100
2 Clergy £120

Total cost £3110

I had to option to include flowers and pay for a meal afterwards ,I said no thanks .

Old Git

Re. my post above it seems like you got yourself a good honest deal there.