Advance Funeral Plans ?

My mum had funeral plan with Age UK. It was a great investment I think she spent about £1500 when she was in her 70s and her funeral cost would have been over £4000 when she died at 95. The funeral director did tell me about a brother and sister who both bought plans for £1000 in their 60s but lived to the late 90s and had funerals which would have cost over £8000 each. The cost isn't going to go down.

I bought mine from Age Uk when i retired in 2015 at a cost of almost 4000. It was supposed to have been for either myself or my husband. My husband who was not a social person decided last year to buy his own at around 15000 with a company who do simple funerals. They collect your body from place of death, cremate you then return the ashes to your designated person. Sadly it was used in January when he died of this awful virus. On reflection it was almost like he knew as we couldnt have had a proper funeral for him anyway at the time.....covid restrictions, so we would have paid for cars not used, a cermony with very few people, no hugging, and certainly no wake afterwards. We plan to have a celebation of his life in July when it would have been his birthday, so hoping all restrictions will be lifted in June so this can go ahead. It will only be family and a couple of people who have been very supportive of me. When it is my time the Age Uk one will be used as i have a wide circle of friends from the groups i belong to, my bowling club ,family and friends. In these troubled times it is difficult to know what to do as things can change at the drop of a hat. Proper funerals can cost so much and it does at the end of the day depend on your financial situation.

Not sure why you would go through a third party and not directly to the funeral company?

Yes. Fully paid up plans for both of us. A colleague died suddenly at work and made me feel very morbid for a while!

A childless aunt of mine prepaid her funeral, stating her wishes, for which we were very grateful at the time. The money was not an issue, but it meant we didn’t have to wonder what she’d have wanted, and it was just a question of informing the (local) funeral director.

If I did decide to prepay, I’d def. choose a local family firm, not one of the big chains - certainly not an American-owned one.
Very unreasonable, I know, but I was put off the Co-op funeral service many years ago after my lovely MiL died in a hospital a good distance from where the funeral was to be held.

The first thing an evidently young and pertly chirpy voice told me, was that the transport would cost 33p a mile.
I slammed the phone down.

Maywalk that sounds perfect!! Unfortunately a little bit far from Harrogate, I don't think Harrogate has anything like that.
Jeanrobinson my DH (also a canny Yorkshireman) who is still alive can't see why we should pay for a funeral when he is going to live forever!!!
I just don't want to put it on my DDs to have to find the money - they might have to end up digging a hole in the back garden!!

My late husband (a canny Yorkshireman) left instructions that he was to be cremated, and he wanted to have "the cheapest possible funeral" So we went to the local co-op undertakers
saying that those were his wishes. I have left instructions with my children that I am to have the cheapest burial funeral which they are happy with

Hubby and I paid for our funerals well over 20 years ago Gwen.

We opted for the Natural Burial Ground at Prestwold where no gravestones are put but you can pay extra to have a tree planted or have bat or birdboxes put up to help keep the wildlife going OR even have a bench made in memory of a loved one.
When hubby died everything was already sorted out even the service.