Prepaid Funeral Plans

suroben

Many years ago my mother-in-law took out one of these policies with the Co-op. Fortunately we found the paperwork in time to do as she planned and everything went off without a hitch. The most important thing to do if you have such a plan is to tell your relatives or friends. We could easily have paid for everything and held the funeral before going through her papers.


I'd advise reading the small print and getting everything in writing but really don't understand how paying for a funeral plan at todays prices and having the funeral many years later can be the really bad deal Yorkshireman99 suggests. After all, it's not as if you can invest your money and rely on high interest rates to boost your savings enough to cover a future funeral.

Jenniefour

suroben wrote: »

Many years ago my mother-in-law took out one of these policies with the Co-op. Fortunately we found the paperwork in time to do as she planned and everything went off without a hitch. The most important thing to do if you have such a plan is to tell your relatives or friends. We could easily have paid for everything and held the funeral before going through her papers.

I think pre-paid funeral plans were possibly more reliable many years ago. But things are changing/have changed, the industry is no longer operating in an entirely ethical manner and a lot more attention is being paid to how to make profit before any funeral director is involved.

But, yes, if there is such a plan very important to let family know.


I'd advise reading the small print and getting everything in writing but really don't understand how paying for a funeral plan at today's prices and having the funeral many years later can be the really bad deal Yorkshireman99 suggests. After all, it's not as if you can invest your money and rely on high interest rates to boost your savings enough to cover a future funeral.

It's not about setting aside the money, which, as you say, can't be spent anyway. It's about trying to make sure the money is safe and will definitely be available when needed. The funeral pre-payment industry is not regulated, there is no protection and there are very serious concerns being aired now about how many of them might go bust (when people will find out there is no funeral paid for after all, money is gone), and how much money is siphoned off for commissions. Funeral directors themselves are raising concerns about this. It is probably going to be one of the more public scandals in years to come. I wouldn't dream of using one or recommending one either. Much safer to put the money into a saving account/ISA - because banking is regulated and the money will be there.

No amount of checking the small print is going to provide any protection against these firms going bust.

The_Beekeeper

Which is the best way to go?
Is there an HONEST advice centre that you can turn to and NOT get ripped off.
I came onto this site as MSE has helped me a number of times but I've never been able to understand Forums, Boards, Thread and all the other things.
I just need some solid HONEST advice.

Mojisola

Have a read here -

https://www.which.co.uk/money/insurance/funeral-plans/guides/funeral-plans-explained

https://www.which.co.uk/money/insurance/funeral-plans/guides/funeral-plans-reviewed
The prices are last years so there may be some increases on the figures given.

Yorkshireman99

The_Beekeeper wrote: »

Which is the best way to go?
Is there an HONEST advice centre that you can turn to and NOT get ripped off.
I came onto this site as MSE has helped me a number of times but I've never been able to understand Forums, Boards, Thread and all the other things.
I just need some solid HONEST advice.

All of the examples are a rip off. A basic funeral can be done for under £2,000. If just want a no frills cremation only £1,500/

Larac

@Yorkshireman99 - You keep quoting a basic no frills funeral for £1500 - My Mum's funeral last week was c£4K and was as basic as you could get. If I strip off the two family cars of around £1K, it still makes it around £3K for a crem service. I can't think what else you could strip out of it - need to pay the Vicar (and or celebrant), cremation fees and fees to various Drs.

Yorkshireman99

Larac wrote: »

@Yorkshireman99 - You keep quoting a basic no frills funeral for £1500 - My Mum's funeral last week was c£4K and was as basic as you could get. If I strip off the two family cars of around £1K, it still makes it around £3K for a crem service. I can't think what else you could strip out of it - need to pay the Vicar (and or celebrant), cremation fees and fees to various Drs.

It can be done for even less. For example

http://www.southwest-cremations.co.uk/

They do a basic cremation only for £1,150 all inclusive. £1,650 if you want a simple service. £1,000 for two cars shows just what a rip off it can be.

The above is not the only one.

Cash-Cows

Larac wrote: »

@Yorkshireman99 - You keep quoting a basic no frills funeral for £1500 - My Mum's funeral last week was c£4K and was as basic as you could get. If I strip off the two family cars of around £1K, it still makes it around £3K for a crem service. I can't think what else you could strip out of it - need to pay the Vicar (and or celebrant), cremation fees and fees to various Drs.

I’m with you. My mum’s was £4K. Nothing fancy.

Yorkshireman99

See post #58

badmemory

Well I've recently paid for my funeral (hopefully many many years in the future) for £2k so maybe £4k is a south of Watford kind of price.