A funeral plan is a method of paying for your funeral
before you pass away. Essentially you are paying for your
funeral in advance providing both yourself and your family
with peace of mind that things will be taken care of. More
people are turning to pre-paid plans with the rising costs
of funerals.
What is the average cost of a funeral?
According to an article by the Daily Mirror the average cost
of a funeral is £4,136. The article also states ‘the cost of a
funeral has risen from £3,456 to £4,136 year-on-year and is
set to soar by 22% to £5,066 by 2026’.
As a result of the rising costs people are turning to other
methods to fund the funeral costs. With ever more
complicated estates it is not always possible for the funeral
to be paid by the estate straight away. Money can be quite
easily ‘tied up’.
As such, the family or friends of the deceased sometimes
foot the bill and then become a creditor on the estate.
How many people die in England and Wales every year?
According to the Office of National Statistics over 501,000
deaths were registered in England and Wales in 2014.
This was a decrease of 1.1% on the 506,000 deaths
registered the year before.
Burial or Cremation
On average 3 times more people are cremated than
buried (Statistics – The National Death Centre). This is a
personal choice and the choice is made in your Will and in
your funeral plan making things easier for your executors.
How the Pre-Paid Plan works
Making the decision to take out a pre-paid funeral plan
will also allow you to choose how you would like your
funeral to be.
When completing the forms for a pre-paid plan
ordinarily you will choose the plan and price that best
suits your budget.
Details like where you would want the service to be held
at, whether you would like to be buried or cremated,
the type of coffin etc.
This information will be sent off to the provider and a
record will be created. Details will then be provided and
should be stored safely. The funeral plan provider should
then be contacted on your death and then the plan
could be put into place.