The fact is that, like any other product or service, the cost of funerals continues to rise. The average cost of a funeral has increased by 21 percent before inflation over the past five years.
Most people would not wish to burden their family or friends with both the worry and expense of their funeral arrangements. The problem becomes more acute should you enter into residential care and find that you are unable to survive on the £14.75 a week you are currently, as of April 1999-2000, allowed.
Consequently, the £10,000 you are allowed to retain, from which the cost of the funeral arrangements will have to be met, may instead be used to supplement your daily living expenses.
The average price of a simple funeral in the UK is now £1,657 for burial and £1,101 for cremation. Any help from the Social Fund, for those who meet the eligibility criteria, is a maximum of £600 to cover funeral directors' fees plus doctors' and cremation or cemetery fees.
As part of your financial planning for later years, you would be wise to consider planning paying for your funeral in advance if you wish to spare your family and friends both the expense and responsibility of interpreting your final wishes.
Almost 300,000 people have now done just that, by purchasing a pre-paid funeral plan. Payment is generally made in a single lump sum, although most funeral plan providers allow payment by instalments.
If you are considering purchasing such a plan you should first compare benefits and prices. Not all plans are the same and no matter how glossy the literature and familiar the name it is essential that you find out exactly what is covered and what your options are. You would be wise to check the following:
- Is there a guarantee that your family or estate will never be asked to pay more at the time of need for the services you have selected?
- Does the plan allow you to cover fully both the funeral directors' fees and the disbursements, which are the costs of the cemetery or crematorium, and the fees paid to doctors and clergy?
- Some plans only make an allowance towards disbursements, leaving the family or estate with more to pay at the time of the funeral.
- Ensure that you have the freedom to select the funeral director of your choice. Some plans restrict your choice to those funeral directors owned by the plan provider's parent company, thus excluding local independent firms.
- If you want to know who owns the firm you select just ask them or the funeral plan company.
- Is your money paid directly into a trust fund, which is a separate legal entity to the plan company?
- Does the plan company abide by a recognised code of conduct?
- Is payment by lump sum or instalments?
- Can you personalise the plan to reflect your own wishes?
- What happens if you move from your current address?
- does the plan have nationwide coverage?
- Are there any health or age restrictions?
- Can you obtain a full refund at any time?
- Is the plan provider a member of the Funeral Planning Council, National Association of Pre-Paid Funeral Plans and the Funeral Ombudsmen Scheme?
For further information on pre-paid funerals contact the Funeral Standards Council on 01222 3802046