Over 50's plans with British Seniors?

voddyman

Hi, I'm 64 and my wife is 60 and we do not have any life insurance to pay for our funerals, the power of attorneys[we will be setting P.O.A. up ourselves on the Government website which we're hoping won't be too difficult], costs for probate?, etc ? etc.?   We have wills made but are going to get them updated in the very near future.
 
     We do have savings accounts with quite a few thousand in them which we were intending to use to pay for all our funeral costs. However, I was wondering if it would make better sense to take out two separate over 50's plans with "British Seniors" as they seem to get pretty good reviews to cover our relevant funeral costs. I know that Martin has pointed out that they could not be cost-effective if you have to keep paying into the plan for years and you, therefore, pay in more than your getting back.

  But my point is, say we start these plans and if one of us does die within say 10 years, then at least that person would receive the plan's full payout which would then go towards paying for the funeral costs. 

I would also like to add that we both want our funerals costs to be as minimal as possible. To be honest, I never realised that funerals could cost so much, it is really ridiculous . and I do not know what people with very little money do to have the funerals of their loved ones???? 

mochyn88

Have a look at Pure Cremations.
I just paid £1595 for their services and I am 67 years old

No increases just a one off payment

Malthusian

Over 50 plans are a rip off. If you claimed on one after ten years you might not even get back as much as you had put in over the years.

If you pay for your funeral plans in advance will you still have enough of an emergency fund to cover one-off costs - new boiler, new car, etc?

Estates worth less than £5,000 don't pay probate fees.

Have you discussed your wishes for a minimal funeral with the wider family (if any)?

I would also like to add that we both want our funerals costs to be as minimal as possible. To be honest, I never realised that funerals could cost so much, it is really ridiculous . and I do not know what people with very little money do to have the funerals of their loved ones???? 

If there is no money in the estate the council will pay for the appallingly named Public Health Funeral.

voddyman

Malthusian said:

Over 50 plans are a rip off. If you claimed on one after ten years you might not even get back as much as you had put in over the years.

If you pay for your funeral plans in advance will you still have enough of an emergency fund to cover one-off costs - new boiler, new car, etc?

Estates worth less than £5,000 don't pay probate fees.

Have you discussed your wishes for a minimal funeral with the wider family (if any)?

I would also like to add that we both want our funerals costs to be as minimal as possible. To be honest, I never realised that funerals could cost so much, it is really ridiculous . and I do not know what people with very little money do to have the funerals of their loved ones???? 

If there is no money in the estate the council will pay for the appallingly named Public Health Funeral.

Hi Malthusian , I thought that if you took out an over 50's plan that they paid out the amount on what you took out when you opened the plan, by that I mean, say I took out a plan for 10K but I died in say 10 years, do they not pay out the 10K?

voddyman

mochyn88 said:

Have a look at Pure Cremations.
I just paid £1595 for their services and I am 67 years old

No increases just a one off payment

Brill mate, I shall have a look at that. Thank you

Keep_pedalling

voddyman said:

Malthusian said:

Over 50 plans are a rip off. If you claimed on one after ten years you might not even get back as much as you had put in over the years.

If you pay for your funeral plans in advance will you still have enough of an emergency fund to cover one-off costs - new boiler, new car, etc?

Estates worth less than £5,000 don't pay probate fees.

Have you discussed your wishes for a minimal funeral with the wider family (if any)?

I would also like to add that we both want our funerals costs to be as minimal as possible. To be honest, I never realised that funerals could cost so much, it is really ridiculous . and I do not know what people with very little money do to have the funerals of their loved ones???? 

If there is no money in the estate the council will pay for the appallingly named Public Health Funeral.

Hi Malthusian , I thought that if you took out an over 50's plan that they paid out the amount on what you took out when you opened the plan, by that I mean, say I took out a plan for 10K but I died in say 10 years, do they not pay out the 10K?

Yes it does, but how much would you have paid in premiums in that time? A 50 year old would have paid around £4.5 k over 10 years, you will have paid a lot more, and the chances of living into your 80s are quite high, so in the long term it is likely that you will have paid more in premiums than your family would get back. You are also paying premiums for 2 people, and if you own your home you don’t really need cover for the second death.

If you can afford the premiums just keep topping up your savings instead.

Grumpelstiltskin

I always think who is paying for all the TV adverts?
My guess is the 'celebs' they use don't come cheap.
Also they offer a 'free gift'. How are they paid for?
Either use a one off funeral payment plan or save.

voddyman

Keep_pedalling said:

voddyman said:

Malthusian said:

Over 50 plans are a rip off. If you claimed on one after ten years you might not even get back as much as you had put in over the years.

If you pay for your funeral plans in advance will you still have enough of an emergency fund to cover one-off costs - new boiler, new car, etc?

Estates worth less than £5,000 don't pay probate fees.

Have you discussed your wishes for a minimal funeral with the wider family (if any)?

I would also like to add that we both want our funerals costs to be as minimal as possible. To be honest, I never realised that funerals could cost so much, it is really ridiculous . and I do not know what people with very little money do to have the funerals of their loved ones???? 

If there is no money in the estate the council will pay for the appallingly named Public Health Funeral.

Hi Malthusian , I thought that if you took out an over 50's plan that they paid out the amount on what you took out when you opened the plan, by that I mean, say I took out a plan for 10K but I died in say 10 years, do they not pay out the 10K?

Yes it does, but how much would you have paid in premiums in that time? A 50 year old would have paid around £4.5 k over 10 years, you will have paid a lot more, and the chances of living into your 80s are quite high, so in the long term it is likely that you will have paid more in premiums than your family would get back. You are also paying premiums for 2 people, and if you own your home you don’t really need cover for the second death.

If you can afford the premiums just keep topping up your savings instead.

Thank you for your advice, it's much appreciated. I'm going to mull over two choices.....
A; I do as you say and keep adding money to my ISA savings account or.....
B, I look at prepaid plans like Pure Cremations as was suggested by mochyn88 or Simplicity Funerals, unless there is a downside to prepaid plans as well?

badmemory

If you actually buy a funeral you can state choices.  So alright your family don't have to stick with those choices but at least they know where they are at what is bound to be a difficult time.  There is also no risk that someone who has to take over management of your affairs actually stops the payments, it has been known to happen.  Finally, when your savings are running down, you maybe have £50k between you & funerals are then £5k each leaving only £40k.  Well your children may well get an extra £10k between them. 

I have to say I do wonder how many of those over 50 funeral plans get lost or are no where near enough to pay for a funeral.  Perhaps they will be the next PPI!

voddyman

badmemory said:

If you actually buy a funeral you can state choices.  So alright your family don't have to stick with those choices but at least they know where they are at what is bound to be a difficult time.  There is also no risk that someone who has to take over management of your affairs actually stops the payments, it has been known to happen.  Finally, when your savings are running down, you maybe have £50k between you & funerals are then £5k each leaving only £40k.  Well your children may well get an extra £10k between them. 

I have to say I do wonder how many of those over 50 funeral plans get lost or are no where near enough to pay for a funeral.  Perhaps they will be the next PPI!

Interesting your comment about people cancelling payment plans, I never thought of that. Thank you.
I am definitely swinging towards a pre-paid funeral plan from one of the firms I mentioned previously as it's peace of mind for my wife and me in the knowledge that our funerals are paid for and organised so, therefore, our kids won't have that to deal with.

 Also, the way funeral prices are going up at a ridiculous rate it makes sense to have everything paid for now. Also as you say our kids can change anything they want if they're not happy with what we've arranged [although I don't think they will], oh if they want to make any changes it'll be them that has to pay for it, so they will probably just leave well alone, lol.    

Thanks again for your help