Prepayment Funeral Plans: Is it worth it?

wintergirl

Hi. Not a nice thing to ask I know, but my elderly mother wants to pay for her funeral now, so as not to leave us having to sort more than is absolutely necessary when she leaves this world.
I have looked online, and it appears the most basic of prepaid funeral plans (from Co-op and AgeUK) charge about £3,000 for their lowest service.
Has anyone set one of these up for a loved one, and then used it?
Are they worth it? The last funeral we paid for was my father, back in the mid-nighties, which cost just over £1,000 for a pretty simple affair. Does £3k sound reasonable for prices now-a-days?
Does having one of these prepaid plans in place make things easier, or harder to organise when the time comes?
Any experiences anyone can share would be much appreciated.

ACG

Your right, its never a great conversation. I do this daily and get to the point where i have become a little bit immune to it - although i did have a couple who were point scoring on health questions of a life policy on who was going to die first, which was... different.

I have never sold or bought a funeral plan so i cant answer, however have you thought about Whole of Life? You pay a monthly premium and you get £xxxx amount back when she passes away.

Imagine the michael Parkinson adverts - although there are other (better) providers available.

Just a thought on an alternative anyway.

skylight

Even with a pre-paid plan, there are costs at the time of the funeral, things such as cremation costs increase over time, as do the Vicar/Person/etc taking the service. These costs tend not to be included in the pre-paid funeral so check exactly what you are getting. Then there is the up-sell too.

Having bought a basic funeral package my step-nan thought she was covered for everything, but she was not at all. Her pre-paid funeral still cost over £600 for the additional costs. (That didn't include the extra car and flowers and nicer casket that Mum and Step-Dad wanted for her and paid seperately).

Perhaps placing the money into a savings plan would give a better return for her money.

janiebquick

You would be better putting the money into a savings account and definitely avoid the 'Michael Parkinson' scam.

weighty1_2

janiebquick wrote: »

You would be better putting the money into a savings account and definitely avoid the 'Michael Parkinson' scam.

Really? How do you figure that? What if the OP's mother dies 2.5years after starting an over 50's plan? She'd have probably been much better of having the plan rather than putting the monthly equivalent premium into a savings account. If fact, there are several over 50's plans which offer back 150% of premiums paid if you die in the first 2 years so even then you'd be better off with a plan than a savings account.

To the OP, how much value they offer depends on several factors, including your mothers health, how fancy a funeral she wants, whether she has any assets to cover funeral costs etc. Personally, for clients in good health I like whole of life life insurance plans which are inflation linked. They avoid the need to pay out several thousand pounds up front, generally offer a higher level of benefit than a monthly payment funeral expense plan would and can be placed and, unlike the monthly option funeral plans, offer a guaranteed minimum level of benefit irrespective of when death occurs.

The unfortunate thing is, I think you will struggle to find an advisor who offers advise on pre-paid funeral plans as they tend to be direct to consumer offerings

eddddy

wintergirl wrote: »

....
my elderly mother wants to pay for her funeral now
...

Hi wintergirl

Just an additional thought, it may be worth thinking about whether the contract is with your mother or with you.

When the time comes, it may be easier to deal with problems quickly if the contract is with you - especially if it is something serious like breach of contract by the funeral firm. (Alternatively, you could deal with it as your mother's personal representative, but you might have to jump through a few legal hoops first.)

forgotmyname

Paying now is probably a good idea. MIL's plan was £1400, FIL took a plan out a couple of years later and teh same plan cost £1800.

Now your getting prices of £3000. I think its only going one way and that up and up.

crasy

My Mother-in-Law has one of these plans and after a fall has now moved in with us. I phoned the plan provider to get the funeral director changed as she is now 90 miles from where she took the plan out. We were given a big list of exactly 1 in the area we are living in or 2 others 20 miles away. We obviously said the one in our area and were told the would call us back to see if they would accept her plan. We were called today only to be told that if the new funeral director took us on we would have to pay almost another £750!!! I would advise any looking for one of these plans to ask the question 'what happens if I move house'.

Troublemaker66

Having had a cheap funeral plan offered me, I felt that it was far too restrictive. It insists on a cremation funeral, green burial is out unless you pay extra. I think I'd go for a savings plan or some kind of life policy. My pensions don't cover this, and both partner and I had lump sum payments for our respective late spouses, so our children will have to pay.

Paying upfront is much cheaper as costs go up. I only want a cardboard coffin and burial in a green burial site. Why should that be more expensive? Family could do the ceremony. My plan was to go to the Taklamakan desert and get lost, but daughter is going to want something a bit more formal than that.

I think she can pay for what she wants.

pstuart

We have a plan via the Co-op, taken out 2 years ago - just over £3k each to include one car, cremation costs etc.

Yes there will be some small extras but the one that's left will have a point of contact and not have to worry about a large unforeseen expenditure.

The last one standing will not have to worry about the children running about finding cash - they will have enough to do.

The MP scam will have you paying forever and will easily out-fund a funeral, the actuaries have really earned their bonuses on that one.
Unless of course you know that you only have a certain amount of time left!

fluffymuffy

ACG wrote: »

....have you thought about Whole of Life? You pay a monthly premium and you get £xxxx amount back when she passes away.

Imagine the michael Parkinson adverts - although there are other (better) providers available.

Can you list a few? I'd like to look into this.