Pros and Cons of Pre-Paid Funeral Plans

Mojisola wrote: »

People who are on means-tested benefits find it useful. Buying one means you don't have to set aside a lump sum for funerals out of the capital amount you are allowed to have.

My parents bought theirs when the capital allowed was £6000 which would only just have paid for both their funerals. If they had kept that aside and then saved up for any big items they needed, they would have gone over the capital allowance.

So, their biggest worry in life was that they would both die at the same time, just after buying some big item out of their savings? It all sounds a bit unlikely.

Biggles wrote: »

So, their biggest worry in life was that they would both die at the same time, just after buying some big item out of their savings? It all sounds a bit unlikely.

Did I say it was their biggest worry in life?

They are people who have always managed their money well, mostly because they've never had much of it.

They were concerned that, even if they had kept close to £6000 in savings, paying for the first funeral would leave the survivor with limited savings, for instance if the death meant a house move. If they both died together, they wanted to make sure that their funerals would be paid for from their estate without anyone else having to find the money.

Unlikely as it sounds to you, that's what they did and why they decided to do it.

There seems to be so much confusion here!

There are Monthly Insurance plans like Sun Life, Axa etc with Parky & then there is the Coop witch is a pure funeral plan for either type & then there are three levels of plan, depending on which you require, your choice don't forget. You can pay a lump sum starting at around £2500. Then no more until a funeral is required. Just think the cost of a funeral today is around that figure, you can of course pick a fixed premium for 2 or 3 years or a lower monthly figure forever.

The Insurance plans that are often advertised by the older retired celeb is usually designed purely to provide a lump sum...But How Much Will a funeral cost in ten years? That's the question & the significant difference.
Yes you can elect to save your own money, but what a temptation for that cruise you saw last week..Come on people are generally not good savers. That's why we are in such a universal pickle... But that's another story

Live Long & Prosper
KL

The bottom line is this.

When I pop my clogs, they are going to have to dispose of my earthly carcass in such a way as the rest of the living population are not threatened by infection from its decay.

So basically it's a public health issue.

For many years I have paid my NI and taxes to ensure that the community are protected from public health threats of many kinds, and therefore when my carcass is all that remains I hope they will dispose of it with as much respect and dignity as spares the rest of the population from harm owing to its decay.

But if they don't, too bad. I shall be long gone. And in the meantime I do not intend to lose very many hours' sleep about how I feather the nests of insurance companies or funeral directors as to how I boost their annual profits.