Pros and Cons of Pre-Paid Funeral Plans

GothicStirling · 23 October 2015 at 6:26PM

My Dad died recently, and if it wasn't for his aunt I don't know how I would have paid for the funeral.

I would also point out to those who say save in a bank account, no funeral director will start the funeral process (i.e collecting the body from a morgue) until they have received the payment for disbursements (the legal stuff) which is £1300. It took almost 6 weeks for Dad's bank to release money to the funeral home. Luckily, he had a Sun Life plan with enough money to get the ball rolling.

Lost2 · 24 October 2015 at 12:15AM

I have an ISA that I pay into every month
I do not want a fancey funneral just put me
in a body bag in the back of a van and off to the crematurium
why spend a whole load of money

Mojisola · 24 October 2015 at 10:14AM

Lost2 wrote: »

I do not want a fancey funneral just put me in a body bag in the back of a van and off to the crematurium

why spend a whole load of money

You don't have to spend a load of money but a dignified disposal of a body is something that humans have been doing since we have been humans. It doesn't benefit the one who has died but can make a lot of difference to how those left behind cope with the death.

Also, the crematorium has to comply with rules about body disposal - you can't just turn up with a body in a bag.

Farway · 24 October 2015 at 1:52PM

Mojisola wrote: »

Also, the crematorium has to comply with rules about body disposal - you can't just turn up with a body in a bag.

True, my son in law is a GP, and is paid what commonly known among the medicals as "ash cash"

Reason being unlike a burial you cannot retrieve the body should foul play be later alleged

shazbig · 4 November 2015 at 1:37AM

I lost me Dad less than 2 years ago, and my MIL 2 months ago. Both had pre arranged funerals with a bond from the Co-op.
When you lose a loved one, it is such a relief to know that their wishes had already been expressed and that you are in safe hands of experienced funeral directors who can carry out their last wishes.
So today my husband and I also purchased bonds with the Co-op. We chose everything we would like, including the type of coffin, notices in the paper, and all the disbersments, ie the cremation fee, the Dr's fees etc. The only thing we didn't purchase was flowers, as we felt we needed to give our family some choice as to whether they wish to donate to charity or have flowers (we have specified the charity though!)
I feel quite empowered by the experience, I have made my own choices for my final journey, taken responsibility away from my loved ones and have peace if mind knowing I have 'put my affairs in order'
As an added bonus, particularly as this is a money saving forum, my husband work in the retail section of the Co-op and we got staff discount 10% for first booking and 25% for the second!:)

Chris2001 · 15 August 2017 at 8:30PM

Just some inside knowledge.....We have a consultancy Company that focus on amongst other things is putting Trusts in place for Funeral Directors so they can deal in their own prepaid funeral Plans, but there are not many about with there own Trusts at the present time that is why generally you would purchase this through a third party Company, who would have their own trust and also have a contract in place with funeral directors on a national basis to ensure that they will carry out that funeral for Todays cost plus CPI/RPI moving forward.

This activity is a restricted activity under the FCA unless a Trust is set up in a certain way with independent Trustees, regular audits and an actuarial valuation every 3 years to make sure that the trust is keeping in line with CPI/RPI, so technically your money is safe and if the Company went bust your money would be safe to carry out the funeral or refunded less an administration fee this would be up to you plus the Trustees.

Funeral plans are good value, as you can see from earlier posts.

Our company is encouraging more and more funeral directors to have their own Trusts as ultimately they would sell you a funeral at a cost and have an obligation to carry out the funeral without any extra or additional fees as it would be them carrying out the funeral and not a possible breakdown in communication between a provider and funeral director.

When dealing with a provider Always ensure they give gives you a certificate confirming the Funeral Director as this can be checked and carefully look over the terms and conditions, there is generally a cooling of period of 28 days and a cancellation fee of £395 average if you change your mind after this time. Some funeral plans do cover internment ( which is the coffin being placed in the ground as this generally would be the same price as cremation) but will not cover your plot, flowers, wake etc but I think most sensible people realize this.

In 2001 the cost of an average funeral was around £1200, Today its £3800 so the longer you live the more value it becomes.

A few rules
1/ do your research
2/ ensure that a funeral director is nominated
3/ check the T and Cs
4/ Always ensure your next of kin know about the plan and who its with

louloubelle79 · 17 August 2017 at 3:32PM

Hi can anyone advise regarding funeral plans are the way to go or not? Thank you

luvchocolate · 17 August 2017 at 5:25PM

Hi ..if you read all the posts on this thread, that will be a starting point for you.

Magic_Sister · 8 October 2017 at 6:54PM

Biggles wrote: »

There are so many reasons not to pour money down the drain for something like this.

There is no 'hassle' or worry for relatives, the bank will free up your funds in advance of probate in order to pay for the funeral. And as regards producing death cert, will etc, they're going to have to do that anyway.

If you think your estate will leave no money when you have died (ie no cash and you don't own a house), then why on earth stretch yourself to pay for a funeral now? If your executor doesn't have enough funds to pay for your funeral, he can get a funeral payment from the state.

And it certainly won't save money overall. The only reason people operate these schemes is - guess what? - to make money!

You are much better off enjoying your money, and investing it if it's spare, than worrying about what's going to happen after you're gone.

Actually there is no funeral payment from the state unless the executor is in receipt of means tested benefit. When my Mother died, albeit 20 years ago, she had no money and no funeral plan (she said she had). I was a single Mum with 4 kids and had no money. It was taken over by the Coroner, and was the most degrading inhumane experience of my life. I was allowed nothing of hers (you know, like the button tin from my childhood and her photo albums), as everything was sold (or dumped) to offset costs. I had no input into the arrangements, and was not even allowed to add any details to her death certificate. I will NEVER let my children be in this position and will ensure that I have payment covered.

knightstyle · 12 November 2017 at 6:55PM

One good thing about these plans is that the deceased can select what funeral they have, this avoids family discussions/falling out at a time of stress.
We organised one for my BIL but haven't got one ourselves. This was to stop the BIL wasting all his inheritance on drink and leaving us to pay the funeral bill when he drinks himself to death!

Pros and Cons of Pre-Paid Funeral Plans

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