DEATH LEADS TO DEBT AS FUNERAL COSTS RISE

Funeral services in some areas are being delayed and mourning relatives are being chased by some undertakers as families across Britain struggle to cope with a rise in funeral costs.

The news comes from Darryl Smith, General Manager of the Heart of England Co-operative Society’s Funeral Division, after it was revealed a modest funeral in Britain costs an average £2,549 – an increase of 33 per cent in five years.

The problem has become so bad in the last two years that the National Association of Funeral Directors has now joined forces with the Debt Recovery Bureau in a bid to claw back some of the unpaid monies.

Mr Smith, who heads a network of 10 funeral homes across Coventry, Warwickshire, south Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, today urged families to save themselves further heartache by preparing in advance for the inevitable and taking out a pre-paid funeral plan.

The Heart of England Co-operative Society’s Funerals Division is among the ‘Registered Providers’ on a list drawn up by the Funeral Planning Authority – the self regulatory body established to protect consumers’ interests when they take out a pre-paid plan.

This means clients purchasing pre-paid funeral plans from the Heart of England Co-operative Society have added reassurance that they are taking out a plan from one of the most reputable companies in the industry – one which maintains high standards and properly protects its customers’ money.

Mr Smith said: “The government does have the Social Fund funeral grant scheme to help families with the funeral payment, but the sum of around £700 is woefully inadequate in relation to most funeral accounts these days.

“The main problem is that the fixed sum from the Department of Work and Pensions has not increased once in the last five years in line with rising costs.

“We come into contact with some people debt ridden for years following the death of a loved one. But a pre-paid funeral is an excellent way of preventing this stress as it also allows you to pay in advance at current prices.”

Mr Smith said although he believed pre-paid plans were on the increase the UK as a nation we are still lagging behind other European countries. Here an estimated five per cent of funerals are pre-paid. In France it is 50 per cent and in Belgium it is 70 per cent.

Mr Smith added: “A great many people prepare for the future by taking out pensions, life insurance and so on. There is no difference from those schemes to pre-paid funerals.