Why have a Pre-Paid Funeral Plan?
At Redwood, we understand the stress that can come from the unexpected costs associated with losing a loved one and that’s why we have partnered with Safe Hands, a pre-paid funeral plan provider, to help our Clients plan for the future.
According to research by SunLife, the overall cost of dying, including flowers and professional fees, is now £9,493.
Approved member of the Funeral Planning Authority
Safe Hands is an approved member of the Funeral Planning Authority – an organisation set up by the industry to regulate UK funeral plan companies and ensure that they are operating in a manner that will result in customers getting the funeral they have paid for when it is needed.
Peace of Mind
Choosing a Safe Hands Funeral Plan is an affordable and effective means by which to protect your loved ones from rising funeral costs and spare them the distress of having to make difficult decisions as to what your particular preferences for your funeral might be. And with the ability to spread the cost of the plan over 3, 5 or 10 years, in fixed monthly payments, you can be sure you can find a payment plan that works for you and your budget.
Funeral Choice
We offer a range of plans to suit all tastes and budgets. They can also be tailored to meet specific, or unique, needs – from the obvious things, such as whether you want cremation or burial, to finer points, such as your choice of music, readings, flowers, preferred dress code, etc.
Flexibility
Our plans are also transferable from one person to another (meaning a plan taken out in the name of one person can, upon written instruction from that person, be utilised for the funeral of somebody else). We also offer an ‘Either/or’ option that allows one plan to be ‘shared’ between 2 people (meaning a plan that is utilised upon the death of either one person or the other)
Security
Safe Hands Funeral Plans is a registered member of (and is regulated by) the Funeral Planning Authority. The money you pay towards your Safe Hands Funeral Plan is held in a secure trust fund (with Pitmans Trustees Limited). Set up in conjunction with specialist trust solicitors, Wrigleys LLP, the trust fund is managed by a multinational investment management firm, UBS
Quality Service
As you would expect, we take customer service very seriously indeed and ensure we only partner with providers who do likewise. Safe Hands have been very carefully selected by us and we are confident that they invest heavily in the training and development of, both, their employed staff and independent Funeral Plan Consultants, ensuring that everyone representing Safe Hands Funeral Plans conducts themselves in a manner that is befitting of the sensitive environment in which we operate.
Cover Expensive Funeral Costs
The typical cost of a funeral has risen 3.4% in the last year to £4,417, with large regional increases in burial fees driving a 9% increase in the average cost of a basic funeral. Some of the biggest increases were seen in Wales (up 9.4%), the Midlands (9.6%), and the South East and East of England (9.2%).
Basic funeral costs according to Sunlife, included the funeral directors’ fees (£2,687), doctors’ fees (£164), clergy and officiate fees (£169) and the burial or cremation fees. They also report that the average cost of a basic burial had risen 65% in the last 10 years.
We told you that The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is conducting a full inquiry into the sector, concerned that funeral directors found it easy to charge grieving families higher prices, and that those families found it hard to shop around.
More information on Funeral Plans
Redwood Financial is one of Hampshire’s leading Investments, Pensions, Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning providers and we are dedicated to helping families to grow, protect and enjoy their wealth. With our unrivalled knowledge of Estate Planning, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Probate, Pensions, Savings & Investments, we can advise on any situation.
We are winners of the prestigious Will Writing Firm of the Year 2018, and an approved member of the Trading Standards Buy With Confidence Scheme.
Resources:
https://www.sunlife.co.uk/funeral-costs/
