Funeral Plans

This is mostly from a 10 minute talk I did for Screen Pop Meets at The Flying Horse at Liverpool Street.

First of all to make it clear, I do not recommend any particular plan and have no incentive to do so, this is just to explain the reasons why its a good idea to have one and to help you choose a plan from the bewildering choices out there.

All funeral plans are now regulated and are covered by FCA - Financial Conduct Authority so there is no longer the risk of losing thousands to an unregulated and unscrupulous funeral plan.

The top three resons to consider having a plan in place are:-

Cost

Peace of mind for those left behind

Less stress for the funeral organiser

Making things easier for the funeral director

Carrying out your wishes

Once you pay, whether that's in full or in instalments, the agreed cost on taking out the plan remains unchanged. Most plans are payable over 10 years but they are really flexible when it comes to paying it off early.

According to HM Gov website, the average cost of a basic cremation in London stands at ￡4627 (checked April 2024). Two years ago my own funeral plan was set at ￡3100. If we assume that the cost of funerals goes up by about 10pc a year

Year 1 ￡5079.70 Year 2 ￡5587.67 Year 3 ￡6146.44 Year 4 ￡6761.08 Year 5 ￡7437.19 so in just 5 years you will have saved almost ￡3000 on the cost of a funeral at todays prices and far more than you would have accumulated in interest on savings. Even if the cost of funerals stabilises at 5pc the savings are still very significant.

What is being heavily advertised are direct cremations, very tempting since the cost is currently around ￡1600 but before you do this, look beyond the cost. It is indeed right for those who have no family or an estranged family and few friends, maybe those who have ended up alone with no visitors in a nursing home or those who have had a long discussion with family members to express and agree theit wishes but for the majority, the remaining family members would feel an emptiness from the lack of closure, cheated of the opportunity to say goodbye, sad by the insignificance of a life lived and not being able to take strength and comfort from friends and family . The object of a funeral is to do all these things and many families who said goodbye to loved ones during Covid really felt the absence of a proper funeral and have since organised wakes and memorial services at extra cost so although direct cremation may feel right for you, do have that difficult conversation with your nearest and dearest first.

Most funeral plans include the cost of removal and transportation of the body, funeral director, a basic wooden coffin, the hearse, the cremation or burial. Funeral Directors ask whether you have a funeral plan in place. This makes things easier for them and the person arranging the funeral as it is then just a question of some additional extras, some of the crematorium fees including upgraded coffins and extra cars. My mums funeral was an extra ￡750 which is much easier to find than the stress of looking at several thousands.

Death is a stressful time so the less the family has to worry about the better. If your wishes are known, choices of cremation, burial or resomation, choices of music and the level of religiousness, whether you want a church service or a celebrant can be stated with the plan this makes organising things so much easier for those left behind, much like making a will or having a lasting power of attorney in place.

Is there a preferred funeral director that might be one you have used before, one you had recommended or one that is more conveniently located to the person organising the funeral. Most funeral directors have their own plans, broadly speaking most of independents are under the Funeral Partners umbrella and use the Choice plan. Most of the high street ones, Barnes, Bond etc use Dignity and Coop Funeralcare use the Coop plan so if for instance the nearest Coop is 30 miles away it makes no sense to choose a Co=op funeral plan.