Paying for a funeral in advance

Lanna

I have a number of elderly relatives who are very practical and have prepared funeral services, wills and documents etc in advance of their death, to make things a little easier for their family when the time comes.

As part of this preparation they spoke with a number of undertakers recently who have suggested they pay for their funeral in advance. That is, select everything they would like now, coffins, flowers, hearse, cars etc etc pay for it in advance and when they die there is (apparently) no extra cost for the funeral in the event prices go up over time, even if it is in years to come.

My relatives have varying degrees of health and although in their mid 70's could potentially live for some time. Others have chronic illness and poorer health although death in not immiment for any of them.... to the best of our knowlege.

I love that they are so prepared and dealing with death head on but I have many reservations about this and have advised them to still use their research and identify what they would like to have on paper, put it with everything else and let the family know but not to part with any money... they don't have much and this would be a big expense for them. What if they need access to money in the future if they become poorly or something unexpected happens to them? Can they really trust the undertakers?

Has anyone encountered this before? All advice welcome.

BobQ

Lanna wrote: »

I have a number of elderly relatives who are very practical and have prepared funeral services, wills and documents etc in advance of their death, to make things a little easier for their family when the time comes.

As part of this preparation they spoke with a number of undertakers recently who have suggested they pay for their funeral in advance. That is, select everything they would like now, coffins, flowers, hearse, cars etc etc pay for it in advance and when they die there is (apparently) no extra cost for the funeral in the event prices go up over time, even if it is in years to come.

My relatives have varying degrees of health and although in their mid 70's could potentially live for some time. Others have chronic illness and poorer health although death in not immiment for any of them.... to the best of our knowlege.

I love that they are so prepared and dealing with death head on but I have many reservations about this and have advised them to still use their research and identify what they would like to have on paper, put it with everything else and let the family know but not to part with any money... they don't have much and this would be a big expense for them. What if they need access to money in the future if they become poorly or something unexpected happens to them? Can they really trust the undertakers?

Has anyone encountered this before? All advice welcome.

I have never considered one but have read stories about them when they go wrong. Which? has done a survey of the plans that gives a fairly balanced view of them. You might look at that on line or at your library.

The Plans are not regulated so the only guarantee you get is from a professional undertakers body. It is effectively an insurance backed solution, but you need to be clear about the conditions that apply and the payments you make to the provider. Try searching MSE for posts on the topic, which will give you some other views.

But a plan may have advantages if you want to save family members from having to arrange a funeral or if you might not leave enough to pay the funeral costs.

Personally I would let my estate fund the costs. My view is that these plans are largely exploitative and yet another example of unregulated charlatans taking advantage of the vulnerable people. But I am a cynic at heart.

Mojisola

BobQ wrote: »

My view is that these plans are largely exploitative and yet another example of unregulated charlatans taking advantage of the vulnerable people.

Well, I'm glad my parents allowed themselves to be "exploited" - they bought funeral plans from AgeUk years before they died which covered their funerals and cremations even though funeral prices had increased a lot over the years.

Different funeral plans cover different things - some guarantee the full cost, some pay out a maximum, some cover everything, others are more limited - so make sure you know what is covered before you buy.

You don't have to organise things right down to the flowers - we arranged service sheets, flowers, etc, and so those were paid for from the estate.

Mojisola

Lanna wrote: »

they don't have much and this would be a big expense for them. What if they need access to money in the future if they become poorly or something unexpected happens to them?

If money is tight, a funeral plan may not be the best choice for them but, if there isn't enough left in their estates to pay, will the family be able to find the thousands it costs for a funeral?

There have been some sad threads on here where people were having to chose between going into debt to pay for a funeral or have their relative's funeral dealt with by the council.

There are also grants available for people on certain benefits so it would be worth checking to see if those could be claimed.

Shelldean

OH nan and her second husband purchased these plans back in 2003.
They paid in full for their funerals, this to my knowledge worked out ok for the husband when he died in 2004.
However when Nan died in 2014, we discovered she had only paid £600 towards Disbursements, which was no where near enough. Luckily there was enough in her estate to top up the funeral plan.


The funeral director said this is a common problem, as they advise the people taking the plans out not to pay too much in advance for disbursements as there can be no refund if they aren't used at the time of funeral

Savvy_Sue

One thing to bear in mind is that paying for a funeral plan won't be considered deliberate deprivation of assets if anything happens which leads to being assessed for means-tested benefits. So, depending on what their actual savings levels are, they could be a really useful thing to buy.

But research in advance is definitely worthwhile.

bongonaut

It is extremely important to shop around, the critical piece of advice being to ensure that you only purchase a funeral plan from a provider registered with the Funeral Planning Authority. If there is a particular funeral director you wish to use, then speak to them directly as well because they may well have a specific plan that they recommend (subject to the FPA caveat).