Prepaid Funeral Plans

99Dave

I have never heard of them but you can check whether they are registered with the Funeral Planning Authority - you can do this on their website https://funeralplanningauthority.co.uk/

RUPERTSIX

Together with my wife we both purchased funeral plans from Dignity over 12 yrs ago which included two limousines My wife sadly died in December 2019 and the service from Dignity and after service was excellent The funeral manager a lady could not have done more and the actual funeral itself was carried out with great respect and sympathy I live in Hull and would certainly recommend this company

Primrose

I,m wondering what the situation is now in this pandemic if you've paid up front t for a funeral that covers all the ancillaries like flowers, second limousine etc and all your loved one is allowed to have is a direct cremation with no attendees allowed.  Does somebody get a refund in such  circumstances?.  

Dymphna60

Re refund on plan , 
As always it would depend on the terms and conditions . 

A couple of years ago I didn’t make use of al the elements of a pre paid funeral plan , co op and was told that no refund on price was available. 

Although not very MSE it didn’t matter to me as it was what I wanted so a different situation to Covid funerals . 

99Dave

I believe you will receive an ex-gratia payment for services not used should you need to use the plan in these difficult times. 

Surfer01

We want to have pre-paid Direct Cremation plans for both us.  We want to pay over 60 months however one of the plans charges you nearly £350 in interest!  If you take the alternative insurance plan over the next 20 years we will have paid in over £7000 just for me although a cremation at present is only £1400.  Perhaps better just to have a savings account and put money in there every month?

nursemaggie

If you pay it all at once it is much cheaper, no extra charges. You would be better off saving up what you would pay on a finance plan and you would probably be able to pay for both at once.

sheramber

By paying in instalments you are entering into a credit agreement, hence the interest charge 
See how much you would pay in interest of you took out a bank loan to pay the total cost up front and hen repay the bank loan.

acorn8

I’m thinking about buying a pre-paid funeral plan.  I found the MSE page on funeral plans to be useful.  There are quite a few providers and I’m not sure which to choose. 

I’ve noticed that Age Co/Dignity and the Co-op have had a lot of bad reviews on Trustpilot.  Golden Charter have received a lot of positive reviews.  I requested a brochure from Age Co a few weeks ago and I’ve been bombarded with letters ever since - which is annoying.  I also requested a brochure from my local funeral directors.  They look quite good - but they are local and I might move house at some point.

Can anyone provide me with advice or recommendations - who to use or who to avoid.

nursemaggie

If you intend moving you will be better off using the ones that allow you to move it. The trouble with reviews is they will only about taking out the plan. You can hardly ask us for a review of the actual funeral. If you are thinking of a local company they may actually find the plan is part of a national group. I have the coop. I found them very helpful and the paperwork is easy to understand. It will also help my relatives as it is clear what they need to do. I went with them because at the time I took it out they were the cheapest and they offered more services for the money.