Pre-paid Funeral Plans

Why you should consider taking out a Pre-Paid Funeral Plan

Not an easy decision to make, simply because it is not always easy to think about planning your own funeral. A lot of people avoid facing this issue altogether, but there are many reasons why a pre-paid funeral plan could be right for you.

Here are some basic facts which may help you to make up your mind:

  • Stating your Funeral wishes in your Will is NOT binding upon your Executors.
  • Often, people just do not know what their deceased relative or friend wanted.
  • A Funeral Plan GUARANTEES that your wishes will be carried out and that the Funeral Director’s services will be paid for at no extra cost to your family.
  • At a time of sadness, you will have relieved your family of financial and emotional burdens.
  • Those you leave behind will remember your thoughtfulness.
  • Savings in a Bank or Building Society or Insurance is just a sum of money. Your executors are NOT obliged to spend it on your funeral and there may not be enough.
  • Your money is safe. It is held with the Funeral Planning Trust with HSBC Trust Company (UK) Limited as custodian Trustee.
  • The price of a Funeral Plan is in line with the cost of a funeral purchased today.
  • You can choose a Funeral to suit your requirements across a range of prices.

You will receive a certificate which confirms the funeral you have chosen. It also specifies, if you wish, personal details such as religious requirements, gifts to charities in lieu of flowers, music, etc.

Funeral costs, will almost certainly continue to rise as they have done historically, doubling in cost every 10 years or so! A Pre-Paid Funeral Plan is paid for at today’s rates, safeguarding against future raises in costs

There are plan options to suit all budgets

You don’t need us to tell you that everything seems to go up in price every year. Unfortunately, it’s just the same with funeral costs.

If, in 2004, you had put £1920 (then the average cost of a funeral*) into a deposit savings account, then you would have seen this grow to about £2,150** over the following 10 years. However, over the same period, the average cost of a funeral has increased dramatically to £3,590*. However, as the Plan pre-pays for the Funeral Director’s services at today’s costs, you are unaffected by any future price rises on these fees.  Furthermore, you have complete flexibility to choose your own Funeral Director, at the time of arranging your pre-paid funeral plan.

A real alternative to saving for your funeral

A plan like this can offer a better financial option than putting money in a savings account to pay for future funeral costs. Since 2004, funeral costs have soared, however interest paid on savings accounts has remained very low. The amount of money, which would have paid for a funeral back then, plus the small amount of interest earned over the years, would not cover the cost of an average funeral today.

Your Guarantee from our Preferred Provider

When you invest in one of our preferred provider’s pre-paid plans, they guarantee that the Funeral Director’s fees will be met in full, when the time comes.

All Funeral Plan funds are held in a Trust established by our preferred provider. The Trust manages the funds to achieve stable long-term growth and is overseen independently by a board of trustees and regulated in compliance with The Financial Services and Markets Act 2001. The fund is annually independently audited and subject to strict actuarial reporting, it is solid, stable and above all, secure.

Your pre-paid funeral plan covers 100% of the costs of the Funeral Director’s services specified in your plan. In some cases, however your family, your estate or executor may be asked for an additional contribution towards ‘disbursements’ (usually payments to third parties such as cemetery or crematorium fees, medical fees or musicians, for example) if their prices have risen beyond the increase in the Retail Price Index.

You know you’re in safer hands

Since pre-paid funeral planning was introduced to the UK in 1984, our preferred provider has been at the forefront of providing these services. They were founding members of The National Association for Pre-paid Funeral Plans and The Funeral Planning Authority.

Our preferred provider is a registered provider with The Funeral Planning Authority which monitors the marketing, financial and service provisions of the plan providers that it regulates.

We want you to be assured that with our preferred provider, your arrangements are in the safest possible hands. That’s why all Funeral Directors that are appointed to provide services for our preferred partner’s Funeral Plan, have first to satisfy several stringent requirements. They must demonstrate outstanding service records in their local community and must be affiliated to relevant accredited professional associations such as The National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) and/or The Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF).

Why not just take out life insurance?

Customers are often tempted to choose an insurance policy rather than a Funeral Plan. There are a number of compelling reasons why a Funeral Plan is a more sensible option, however:

  • With an insurance policy, you keep paying until you die; which means that you might pay considerably more in premiums than the funeral actually costs! With a pre-paid

    Funeral Plan, you pay a fixed cost.

  • With an insurance policy, you generally need a health check. There are no medicals or health questionnaires with a pre-paid Funeral Plan.
  • Generally, you can only get insurance up to a certain age, and you’ll pay a very high

    premium, too, if you begin the policy at a late age. There are no age restrictions with

    a pre-paid funeral plan and the price is fixed whatever your age.

  • There is no guarantee that an insurance policy will actually cover the cost of your funeral when you pass away. With one of our preferred providers Plans, your funeral is guaranteed to be fully paid for, regardless of any changes in the price over time.
  • With an insurance policy, there is no guarantee that the funds will actually be used to pay for your funeral when the time comes.
  • There are no refunds if you cancel your insurance policy.
  • An insurance policy does nothing to protect your friends and family from the immense stress of having to organise a funeral.

Do I need to have a medical?

No. With a pre-paid funeral Plan there are no medicals or personal questions to answer. Anyone can take out a plan at any age and acceptance is guaranteed. You can even take a plan out for another member of your family; your spouse for example.

Will there be any additional costs at the time of the funeral?

Our preferred provider guarantees 100% of the costs of the arrangements specified in your Funeral Plan. There are no additional hidden extras or additional administration charges for your family to deal with when the time comes.

Do I need a new Will?

It is always advisable to note your pre-paid funeral plan in your Will. Furthermore, your Exactors need to be made aware of your of the planning you have put in place.

What happens if I die on holiday?

We recommend that you check your travel insurance covers repatriation. If it doesn’t, we can advise your dependants how to use the Plan’s funds to contribute towards the cost of a local funeral or the cost of repatriation.

Can I cancel the plan?

Yes. In contrast to an insurance policy, for example, you can cancel your pre-paid funeral Plan at any time and get a refund of a significant portion of your purchase price.

If you would like us to prepare a free no obligation quotation for your funeral arrangements
PLEASE GET IN TOUCH WITH US TODAY