Funeral Plans

[Galatine]

Slightly off topic but there is no other obvious place for this.
Lady Galatine and I are planning to purchase a funeral plan. Can anyone offer advice on whether these are reasonable value and what are the pitfalls to avoid. So far we looked at Co-op, Dignity and Golden Charter. Constructive advice would be welcome.

Do your own bank do one by any chance? They're usually the best to go with if price is right
Ours is £10 per month per person

Thanks, but are actually looking for a pre-paid plan rather than an insurance policy, which what you describe sounds like.

No it's a pre paid plan through my bank

My parents bought Coop plans. They were excellent when my dad died. Mum is still going strong!

im on the other side as I work for a church and see them when they go wrong.

top tips:

check what happens if you move house, specifically area, can the policy be easily transferred to a nearby funeral director, what are the costs if any?

what does the plan actually include, typically it includes a basic coffin, professional services of the funeral director, hearse, cremation fees and the basic chapel cost - they may not include other cars, flowers, reception, church etc so if these are things you want check that small print.

timings - I’ve heard horror stories of the plan only being valid off peak (Tuesday to Thursday), and worse there being a supplementary cost for services from 11.30-2.30pm, again check carefully.

finally most “chains” are actually franchises hence the transfer question, and may vary around the country, get local recommendation, eg my local coop used to be terrible from my perspective but new management is in place and now are excellent!

i suppose what I’m saying is read all that small print and don’t be pressured to sign without shopping around

Thanks Mamagogo1. We are looking at Co-op, Dignity and Golden Charter. The first two only have offices 20 miles away. Golden Charter are available from and serviced by two local funeral firms with a good reputation. I know that they had several agents in the area were I used to live, so,I don’t think moving would be to much of a problem. What is your experience?

Would you mind telling me which bank, I cannot find one that seems to offer this service.

Both my parents took out these and it definitely made things easier for us when it came to organising the funerals. They were with a funeral director local to where they were living in retirement but between my dad’s and my mum’s funerals, the plan was transferred to Dignity. Both the independent and the Dignity funeral directors were absolutely fine.

The only thing we paid extra for were flowers. There were other add-ons available but we didn’t use them.

Oh, just remembered, we had to pay extra for the memorial stone as well.

My Father had a plan with Golden Charter and it made things so much easier for us.
He’d named a local independent Funeral Director and we were able to choose all the finer details. His plan also included a budget for flowers, the only additional cost to us was for additional cars (we had 5 ).

Use one of the large & well known outfits. Check their accounts at Companies House - should show you that customers funds paid in advance are held safely “in trust” usually in another separate entity. Check the small print for what is & isn't included.
Businesses offering prepaid funeral plans have only been regulated fairly recently (possibly since 2022? but don’t quote me on that) so you can always check if they are with the FCA.

The one that my Nan took out didn’t have any out of hours cover. As she died on a weekend it was useless.

Read the small print very carefully if you’re taking one out. I think I’m just going to ring fence some money.

Sorry I've just checked. Banks stopped doing the pre paid plans in 2022 due to new regulations
I had no idea. Sorry

My mum took her plan out with Dignity, and I couldn't fault then. They were amazing and made things a little easier on us.
We paid extra for order of service, flowers, and the lady that took the funeral.
My mum took hers out out 8 years ago, so glad she did x

Loads have gone out of business and left people with less money and no plan. Don't do it is my advice.

Yes I checked the FSC website and discovered this. Mostly they appear to be very small independent companies and financial advisors. I am looking at the bigger companies who claim to hold the funds in a separate trust; Co-op, Dignity and Golden Charter, so I hope the would be more reliable.

I take your point, I could do that, however it will not protect against inflation or the possibility of having the money depleted by things like care home fees or the extra expenditure needed in the case of long term sickness.

After the funeral home scandal in Hull my friend who works in environmental
health had to check the funeral homes in her area were following the rules. She said a lot of the independents weren’t but the coops all were.

My parents had plans with coop. So far only my Mum’s has been used and I found them
to really good and not pushy for extras.