One of the most popular ways to start paying for your funeral now is to buy a pre-paid funeral plan.
A pre-paid funeral plan lets you pay for the services of your funeral director up front1. The funeral director’s services of most pre-paid funeral plans include care of the deceased, a coffin, and transportation to the funeral director’s premises and then to a cremation or burial site. They have the added benefit of fixing the cost of a funeral director’s services at today’s prices1.
Pre-paid funeral plans won’t always cover the entire cost of a funeral, but all plans will include the services of a funeral director, and care of the deceased. While some third party costs may still rise - crematorium or celebrant fees for example - funeral plans will typically include an allowance to pay at least some of these essential expenses.
Funeral plans also offer payment flexibility, with a variety of payment options available, from a one-time payment, to monthly instalment options. A one-off single payment brings the benefit of immediate cover. For people looking to make monthly payments, instalment plans can spread the cost over two to 15 years2.
Choosing your funeral
The cost of a pre-paid funeral plan will vary according to the type of funeral you decide to have. Basic plans, which allow for an unattended cremation, incur lower costs than the more traditional forms of funerals. Also known as direct cremations, the price of these plans does not cover any kind of funeral service. Instead, the deceased is taken to be cremated at a time and location decided by the funeral director.
As the simplest form of funeral, this is the most affordable plan. If you would rather have a more traditional funeral service, our range of plans and payment options allow for more than just the essentials. This would give your family the choice of where and when your funeral is held. It would also allow you to choose between types of coffins, between cremation and burial, and to pay in advance for some extras; funeral cars, for example. The allowance for third party costs varies depending on the type of funeral plan selected.
Pre-paid funeral plans are a popular option
When it comes to paying for your funeral, pre-paid funeral plans have been one of the most popular options in recent years. According to the SunLife Cost of Dying Report 2024, 37% of UK survey respondents opted to prepay for their own funeral, making it the second most popular option after savings and investments (44%).
A key motivation for paying for a funeral director's services in advance is to fix the costs covered by the plan at today’s prices, no matter how much they rise in the future. The average cost of a traditional funeral rose to £4,141 in 2023 according to SunLife’s research - up 4.7% from 2022. If funeral costs continue to rise the way they have over the last 20 years, paying for your funeral now could result in long term savings.
Paying for your funeral now can also help bring you peace of mind, knowing that your loved ones won’t have to face unexpected expenses. Prepaying your funeral lets you decide how much you want to spend, avoiding potential pressure on families to spend more money in order to ‘do right’ by the person they have lost.
Buying a pre-paid funeral plan can help you to start conversations about your end-of-life wishes. You can specify whether you’d prefer a cremation or burial, your choice of music, readings, and even flowers.
Losing a loved one is one of the most difficult times any of us will face. Paying for your funeral now helps to reduce the financial strain of unexpected expenses, and the emotional pressure of funeral arrangements, leaving friends and family free to remember you and celebrate your life as you’d want them to.
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1 While the cost of the funeral director’s services are included in your plan, this does not cover third party costs. All our plans include an allowance towards third party costs.
2 Dependent on age and the plan type you choose.
