funeral plan response

I have had a couple of calls and i simply say - "not my problem - go away" or words to that effect!!

Cynical as I am - a lot of these 'pay for your funeral' businesses have been set up in recent years. I would ask " What is there in it for me?" and "What's in it for them?"

good point gangy!

We had a funeral director and his team wedged in a narrow part of our shopping mall recently. They were only targeting anyone elderly, which I found offensive.

One older lady was very upset, as she said she had recently buried her husband.

I thought their direct technique was very callous.

I talked to them about their approach. He was very defensive and prattled on about forward planning. However haven't seen them recently.

I was asked in my bank. I just replied that if he checked my account he would see there was enough to pay for a funeral. He looked uncomfortable and I think they are told to ask as they do with house insurance at regular intervals.

hollygolly

My friend has a funeral plan and tells me that she has to continue paying it for the rest of her life. If she stops paying the policy dies and she loses all she has paid in. Already she has paid in quite a large sum and since she is very well and active could end up paying at least twice over for her funeral. She says it is peace of mind she is paying for but I think she is being ripped off.

DH and I have an endowment savings policy which will pay out at the end of 10 years and will give a more than adequate sum for us both to have a basic funeral. If we survive until it pays out we will just keep the cash for the planned purpose and if we don't survive it will pay out anyway which will be before we could have saved enough at the payment rate. Win, win!

Having worked with older people, and now being one myself, many people do worry about how their funeral will be paid for when they die, expecially if they and their families are not well off. There still remains a real fear of having a paupers burial. In principle paying for your funeral in advance is a very good idea and burial clubs and plans have been round since at least the beginnning of the 19th century.

However modern undertakers aren't selling these plans to the poor, but to the 'worried well', a good market for anyone selling nostrums for anything from longer life to a pre-planned burial.

My response is always 'I will worry about that (my funeral) when the problem arises'. By the time they have figured that out I have put the phone down.

DH and I have both got prepaid funeral plans. They're not a monthly payment scheme, I agree these are a con.
We have paid in full there by avoiding inflation and leaving more of our savings for our or if anything left, our children's benefit

So if, like Synonymous' friend, you pay into a monthly plan and live long enough to pay in more than twice the cost of your funeral, what happens to all that overpayment? I'm betting they keep it. What a total rip off. Why not simply pay the same amount into an ISA or other savings plan?
Equally, what happens if you die having only paid in 50% of the funeral cost? If the company are keeping everyone else's overpayments, then they should cover the shortfall. In other words, is it an insurance policy or not?

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Like with anything there are different versions of pre-paid funeral plans. Some companies allow customers a minimal monthly payment which comes with the term..pay until death or until 90. This can be effective for older people as after 2 years your funeral is in some what paid for. For younger people however this does get very costly. Especially when third party costs/disbursements are not fully guaranteed. If you spread it over a fixed term...normally max 15yrs or pay in full with a guaranteed disbursement cover...all you are doing is controlling how much you want to pay. Alot of companies have different terms and unfortunately sales people these days are happy to deliver the good news but leave out the bad. I work for a company who recommends a particular funeral planning company and have seen many different scenarios where customers have been misled. They really are a great product to have if you do your research before committing! If anyone is looking into these I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have and direct you to some useful websites with information

We have a funeral plan (as does our son). We decided how much we would want to pay for a funeral, we paid in a dedicated amount to that plan, for a certain amount of time, which will ensure there is enough to cover the kind of farewell we have decided upon. We have also left with that insurance cover details of whether we would like to be buried or cremated, and what sort of service. Makes sense to me.

If someone is unable to pay for a funeral for a loved one who has been in the armed forces then the Royal British Legion will help (although HQ were very slow last time DH was trying to help someone).

Funeral plans are a good idea if you are on Pension Credit and getting near the savings limit.

Many older people used to (may still) put money into a separate savings account to pay for their funeral and got very upset when I said that would need to be included on a benefits application form as part of their savings (...but that money is specifically for my funeral....).

Buy a funeral plan and the money is spent and out of their savings, albeit the 'goods' will not be delivered until an unspecified date in the future.

If you know you have enough assets to comfortably cover the cost of your funeral when the time comes, I cannot see much point in them.

Buying a funeral plan from a funeral director which involves a one off payment does give peace of mind. What I can't understand is making a monthly payment, for life, which if you stop paying you lose all the money paid in. Much better, as has been previously suggested, to pay the money into a dedicated savings account, that way if some emergency arises and you can't save for a few months then you haven't lost anything.

You don't have to pay in full you can spread the cost over a max of 15 yrs....providing its fully paid before your 90th. There are admin charges for paying this way but it still works out alot cheaper than leaving yourself open to price increases. It's also good for those who cannot afford to simply pay such a huge sum in one go, allowing small affordable payments. Some companies, however, use a pre-paid plan as part of their insurance offers. This is when it becomes risky, as if you die within 2yrs, cancel or miss a payment you have no cover. Also, If you're only young at the time of taking out the policy you end up paying way more than a funeral costs.