I agree. I don't know why people are putting LPAs and wills/funeral planning together. They're completely different.
In my mind, when you're dead, you're dead, so if the deceased wasn't bothered to plan their funeral, i.e. choose burial or cremation, choose religious or not, choose casket style, etc., then they were clearly not that bothered!
If they didn't write a will, then they by default must have been happy for their estate to be distributed via intestacy rules. Again, they were clearly not that bothered to do anything different.
But LPAs are a different kettle of fish. They come into effect when you're alive so will have an actual real effect on the person when they're suffering health or mental problems. Not having them in place means your nearest and dearest don't have much of a say in your treatments/care for your health issues. It means there's no mechanism for paying for bills, buying stuff, financing healthcare or other care when you need it. Banks, utility firms, etc simply won't talk to your nearest and dearest and won't take instructions from them. Care homes etc need someone to pay their bills, so without a POA, it falls to family to stump up as they're not able to access the bank accounts etc without going through the process of arranging guardianship etc via the family court which can take several months and costs several hundred pounds!
Until you've had a close relative needing healthcare or other care, and they've not done a POA for health nor finances, you don't appreciate how helpless you are.
We've just been through it with MIL. She had dementia but had coped with family help for several years, where we took her to the bank etc and "guided" her through what she needed to do, what to sign, helped her write cheques, etc., went to medical appointments with her to support her and help her understand and ask questions etc. She was still living independently in her own home. We kept mentioning POA but she baulked at the cost. She kept saying she'd do it when the need arose. Trouble was that she deteriorated very rapidly and events over-took her. Literally worsening by the day, both in terms of physical health and her mind. Every time we asked for GP/hospital help, social care help, contacting banks or utility providers, first question was always "have you got a POA" - if not they'd only talk with MIL directly and that was becoming more and more impossible. She couldn't set up a direct debit for home care costs, so we had to pay for it. People she came into contact with, i.e. the home care manager, could clearly see she was no longer of "sound mind" so knew she wasn't capable of signing a cheque or setting up a direct debit for their costs etc! We couldn't even start the process of getting POA as no one would certify that she knew what she was agreeing to! We had to start down the court of protection route but that needed a "professional" to confirm she wasn't capable of understanding things, and the GP surgery simply wouldn't do it as they were "busy" and wouldn't give an appointment for an administrative matter, so we had to wait until she was admitted to hospital, and get a hospital doctor to evaluate her and sign the paperwork. Then it's a several month wait for the family court to process the firm. MIL was dead before it was granted! Trying to organise healthcare, organise her finances etc dominated her last few weeks alive - we'd be spending time filling forms and pleading for help from the GP surgery, social services, etc., rather than spending quality time with MIL!