Pre paid funeral advice please

omnipeta

My wife and I would like to pre pay for our funerals to save our children the expense etc.. (We hope not too soon) we are both 'humanists' does anyone have any advice please as to cost, best services, contacts etc? Thank you.

bongonaut

I would recommend that you speak to the funeral director that you would like to carry out your funerals. They may be part of a conglomerate (Dignity/Co-op) and so have their own plans, or they may be independent and use an independent plan provider (Golden Charter or similar). The ideal solution is that the FD tailors a plan to your specific requirements.

It's usually worth some shopping around as well, but do ensure that you only purchase a funeral plan from a provider registered with the Funeral Planning Authority (FPA).

crazycamper

My Mum & Dad both did a funeral plan in 2011. They paid £2700 each for the starting package with Jennings. Coop Funeral was very similar. The only difference between the starting package & the next grade up was the funeral car. It was £700 more expensive & to hire a car on the day was £195 so they went for the starting package. Sadly, less than 12 months after Dad had bought the plan, he died very suddenly and then 18 weeks later Mum died too. It certainly took a lot of the stress out of organising everything. My parents had already bought a cremation plot in a local cemetery so that was sorted, that would have cost over £1000. I had to pay for extras such as the order of service sheets & obviously the headstone but the pre paid plan was certainly appreciated by me. Hope this helps.

Savvy_Sue

I was talking to a friend about funeral plans (as you do!) and suggested they should ask our church minister about which funeral directors locally are good.

Obviously as a humanist that wouldn't work, but if you've been to any good funerals lately you could maybe ask the bereaved who they used and whether they were good to deal with.

If anyone wants a recommendation for Newbury, Berkshire, I was very pleased with the one we used for both Dad and Mum.

g6jns_2

omnipeta wrote: »

My wife and I would like to pre pay for our funerals to save our children the expense etc.. (We hope not too soon) we are both 'humanists' does anyone have any advice please as to cost, best services, contacts etc? Thank you.

You say to save your children the expense. Funeral costs are paid from the estate of the deceased not the family. If there are insufficient funds then the local authority or hospital have to pay. Are you planning to pay by installments ? There may be better ways to put money aside.

bongonaut

Probably the key benefit of a specific pre-paid funeral plan (rather than a whole of life insurance policy) is that it will fix the price at todays costs and guarantee that your family or estate will never be asked for more however far into the future that may be. Some plans guarantee only the funeral directors side of the charges; others also guarantee basic 3rd party fees (cremation, doctors and minister/celebrant).

As previous comment, there may be better ways, but if you are looking to put money aside with the specific intention that it pays for your funeral, these guarantees are hard to beat.

It's always worth speaking to local FDs for their advice as well. No good buying a plan elsewhere then finding out your local FD might not accept it, or be a part of that providers network.