Funeral Plans

daphnedill-on the loss of your mum

In the US, my dad bought a prepaid plan. The plan was held in escrow for my dad by the funeral director, meaning that any interest accrued was paid out of the escrow fund by the funeral home to my dad (and it was taxable as an interest bearing asset).

The funeral home got paid 'up front' at the current rate when dad bought the 'policy', so that was their gain. My dad's gain was that he survived for 10 more years and saved a lot on what the funeral/coffin he wanted would have been when he died.

Do they not do that here with individual funeral directors if you know who you wish to handle your arrangements? We have savings set aside for this, but I would like to have a plan like my dad's.

My Dad died a few weeks ago...costs running at about £5000. Trying to keep it simple as he would have wished but as usual some members of family wanting what we cannot afford.... My MIL has already booked and paid for her funeral so everything is as she wishes! DH has no worries or responsibilities now and it has helped both. Personally will make sure money is available upfront to cover basic costs before probate can be inacted.

I looked at life insurance plans and was told by a broker that the best plan she could find would run for 20 years then cover would stop (at 90 in my case). I don't mean payments would stop while the cover continued. It would mean re-negotiating another plan at 90.
Given that I have an aunt of 95 and my DGM died at 93 I plan to outlive the proposed plan!

That's why I've made an appointment next month to discuss prepaid plans.

I apologise. I meant to send condolences to those who have lost love ones recently but who were kind enough to tell us of their experiences.

After a recent health scare i looked at several funeral plans but was put off by the cost per month. If you are a pensioner, living alone, with no money left over from paying all the bills then the monthly payments are unaffordable! Also when talking to most of the companies all the arrangements were to be made by people who did not know me & what I wanted.
After talking to one of my friends I looked at Insurance as she has & found that this was by far easier. Payments monthly are affordable & my son can do exactly as we want. No fuss funeral, no church just Humanist quick service & scatter my ashes either out to sea or on the Broads!
Hopefully my family will just celebrate my life & not mourn too much!

When I got married (1960) my husband and I took out life insurance policies. He died several years ago, I still have my policy, which was converted to a "paid up" policy some years ago, meaning I no longer have to pay the premiums but if I leave the policy untouched it goes on growing in value. Last time I checked it was worth about £3,500, so a little forethought all those years ago will benefit my children as my preference is for an extremely low key, simple affair.

My hope is to be despatched quickly and privately. I do believe one can call the a Crematorium and reserve a 'slot' for somewhere in the region of £700. Can anyone enlighten me as to the veracity or nonsense of this thinking, please?

Oh gosh definately not ready to think about this yet... to much living to do.Sorry to hear about your sad news daphne.

Taking the burden from my family in no way stops me doing precisely what I choose to do for a long time. Responsibility for my family started the moment I held my first daughter and won't end until my simple organised plan is out to use.

One point I would make is that nursing homes etc can have special arrangements with certain undertakers. It is a competitive business. Even a 'simple' cremation is not without associated costs. We chose a decent small casket for my father that had a nameplate on it and it was then interred in his family grave that was opening officially by the cemetery staff. They needed to know the shape of the casket in advance so as to prepare the right shaped hole! So worth doing a bit of research and leaving your wishes clear even if not paid for in advance. They can be included in a will as a 'wish' rather than a directive so the executors have some discretion in how things are handled.

Kim, I am with you. I'd want then to have family and friends go to a nice pub on a convenient day/evening and have a good knees up! As we get older, funerals become events to renew seeing family and friends. I don't want all the hassle of having older people having to go to and fro for a funeral.

HazelGreen Oh yes, when my brother died after surgery in the US (Florida), my SIL had rung the funeral director where they have a plan to come for him.

Some sleazy nurse had already told her partner who was a funeral director to come and get my brother! So when my SILs people turned up, he was gone! It took 3-4 hours to find him. Very very distressing. Nurse only got a tongue-lashing from a supervisor. That should have been a sackable offence... she was profiting from this kind of activity.

In general those funeral plans are not worth it. The amount that the plan will pay out is rarely going to cover the actual cost on the day. This is due partly to inflation and partly to the time from start to claim.

What really concerns and annoys me is the way they sell them. And it always the loved ones left behind who have to pick up the tab.

Now you may think that I am on the side of the funeral directors when I say they are strong armed into acceptance ( those firms must agree to the plans ) but consider where they stand. If they do not agree to accept the plans there is always the competition who will and the latter gain in being seen as helpful.

However nobody can reasonably say what any funeral is going to cost next year let alone years hence. Just take the sudden and extortionate rises introduced by many local authorities for both cremation and burials. Those increases were made just to gain extra income for cash strapped councils regardless of the impact.

Many years ago when those plans appeared my recommendation was to put the money in a savings account instead of the pockets of the companies offering such plans. That is not the answer today as interest rates are pathetic. Nevertheless I would put money aside rather than into a plan.

I took out a prepaid basic plan to cover costs including one car. It was paid installments over a year with no insurance just that if die within the year that you estate has to make up the remaining payments. It does not cover post funeral catering or flowers in you want any. It is however indexed to beat inflation so whatever the cost at the time it covers the bill for the agreed service. Dignity, Co-op and Golden Charter offer this sort of plan. Royal London, Sunlife etc. offer life policies which probably only cover part of the bill and are not inflation proofed.

I have what the kids call 'mum's click and collect'....I shall be collected, no services at all, taken to a crematorium and the ashes returned to the kids. I don't want them to have any worries at all, or to be trying to get time off work to attend, or travel in bad weather, or waste money on flowers or upgrades.

If they want to have a little do, they will have the money I leave them.

My husband and I both have a prepaid funeral plan,we booked this after the death of a close family member and saw how distressing it was for their daughter to begin to arrange it all.
We picked our coffins,service arrangements,flowers and cars,we know what we want,our children are aware of the plans and where they are kept.
No one has to ask " what would mum have wanted", yes it was a little upsetting when we first made these arrangements but we soon got over it,we don't even think about it now

Yes the fact that it's index linked means that the basics are covered matter when.
My estate will cover any bills but I want my family to have instant access to pay immediate costs.
Having made enquiries about life insurance etc I can't find a more effective way.
If not an insurance policy or savings account how does one put money aside?

no matter when

Daphendil

I am so sorry for your loss...xx

I want my ashes scattered at sea. Think I'll leave money for some one to go on a cruise to take them to the Med to scatter them.
Has to be on Cunard though!

I thought you said a while ago that wanted to drift down the Severn GALEN?

I am afraid that personally I find the idea of paying £ks to Funeral Directors anathema! Medical Science 1st choice and if they don't want me then simply buried here on our farm. Private and personal.

My unmarried aunt paid £1,100 for her pre-paid funeral plan in the mid 1990s - just basic, no cars as I said we all have cars, and she was always an advocate for saving money. When she died 4 years ago aged 94 it would have cost more than double that. She had what she wanted and it made the process much easier for us. DH & I are now paying for our funerals with the Co-Op - the best deal we could find and we are paying for it monthly over 24 months for a small amount of interest, rather than take a lump sum out of our diminishing savings. We just wanted to make it easier for our DC.

Caroline these are not options open to everyone so we have to base decisions on what's appropriate.

Love the click and collect ! that is the plan I have too ...visited four different funeral parlours for a quote from each ....wrote to Laboratoire D'Analyses to donate body to medical research ....was told it would cost E 250 to collect, had to have no operations or (obviously) notifiable diseases, and that body would be returned to family who would then have to pay for funeral !....and the point is ?? Tried the woodland burial ....communicant has to travel from Paris (nearest one) 600k away ..transport has to be paid and accommodation .....no way ! Used to be acceptable to bury in ones garden but no longer allowed .....chose cardboard biodegradable coffin with daisies printed on it ....sorry, not allowed ...Why ???? it is only going up in flames ! So have instructed my funeral plan co to click and collect with NOTHING else ! After all I am not going to know about it and as I have no family or anyone who wishes to watch me depart, that suits me !! I pay for a basic plan each month so no one else will have to pay (they always trace distant relatives etc from here until they find someone to pay !) ......

My late dad bless him had a Co op Funeral plan, which took care of everything ...this was a blessing as back in the day I was a single parent with no money and could not have paid for anything without getting into debt, so I was able to give him a funeral he would have liked , flowers, catering and even the Rent a Vicar at the Crem )he was not a church goer)...unfortunately despite my giving the RaV copious notes on my dad, his likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc he got his NAME wrong ..called him Ted instead of Joe ...so I had to hiss loudly from the front row ....................my dad would have found that amusing !!

Sorry to all those who have recently lost loved ones......it gets easier as time goes by !