Pre-Paid Funeral Plans...

How planning your funeral brings complete peace of mind!

Comfort, reassurance, freedom from worry and stress - these are the benefits mentioned by almost everyone with a funeral plan from Lilleywhite Funeral Service in association with Golden Charter.

Consideration for others is the most frequent reason for purchasing a Golden Charter funeral plan. With Golden Charter you know that your loved ones will be spared some of the burden of bereavement. You’ll have specified every detail of the funeral in advance, selected the funeral director and made provision for the costs.

Background

More than 350,000 people in Great Britain have planned their funerals, over 160,000 of them with Golden Charter, the UK's leading funeral plan provider. Many, through losing loved ones, have known the grief of bereavement - and the distress of selecting the funeral arrangements, as well as financial anxiety. Sometimes they worry about how their sons, daughters or even grandchildren will cope at the time of their own funeral.

And for many people, their their funeral in advance has become a way of taking care of the future, like preparing a will for instance

A guarantee

Once you've paid for your Golden Charter plan, you can be sure that neither your loved ones nor your estate will be asked for a penny more for the services within the control of your funeral director - no matter how much these costs may rise in years to come.

An allowance for disbursements

Some costs are paid on your behalf by the funeral director but are not within his control. Known as disbursements, they include the fees of cemeteries, crematoria, doctors, clergy, newspaper notices and memorials. Only if the increase in these costs were to exceed the disbursements amount allowed for in the plan might there be a balance to pay at the time of need.

Financial security

Your payment will go directly to the Golden Charter Trust, which will hold the money for your funeral on behalf of participating funeral directors. This is why your funeral director is able to provide a legally binding contract, guaranteeing that your selected arrangement will be carried out when required.

The Trust Fund is a legally separate entity from Golden Charter. In the unlikely event of something untoward affecting the company, the Fund would continue until every plan has been carried out.

Proven value - a comparison with high interest building society accounts

Why should you pay for your funeral in advance? Would you do better to put your money in a building society? On past evidence the answer is clearly no.

A *recent survey has shown that the average cost of a funeral had increased by 10 per cent over a twelve month period. The average cost of a funeral in the UK is now £2390, cremation being £2160 and burial (excluding purchase of grave) £2620. The survey further predicts that by 2012 a funeral costing £2500 today will have risen by 38 per cent to £3450. Putting money in a high-interest building society account would not have kept up with these increases. In comparison a Golden Charter plan would have given much better value.

On past evidence a Golden Charter Plan is much better value than a high-interest building society account. If, in 1991, you'd invested £820 (then the cost of an average funeral) in a bank or building society, it would have grown to only £1,246.35† over the next sixteen years - not enough to keep up with rises in funeral costs. The same funeral almost tripled in cost to £2,240, a difference of £993.65 - a costly shortfall.

Proven value - vs insurance-based funeral expenses policies?

Most insurance policies that cover funeral expenses have two principal disadvantages:

• Lack of personal choice - you can't specify the arrangements.
• Questionable value - many policyholders in reasonable health have lived to a good age and paid more in premiums than the cost of their funerals.

* ASLD Survey Mintel 2007.

† Source: Standard + Poor's Fund Services ®+© 2007. UK savings 2500 + index (January 1991 - 30th November 2007). Past performance is not necessarily a guide to the future.

Golden Charter and the Woodland Trust -  a unique partnership

Almost every Golden Charter plan holder we've spoken to thinks this is a beautiful way to be remembered. When you purchase a plan, a tree will be planted on your behalf by the Woodland Trust, Britain's largest woodland conservation charity. Over 150,000 trees such as oak, ash and beech have been planted through this exclusive arrangement.

You will receive a certificate to record the planting and, though it is not possible to specify the type of tree or its location, we will enclose information on the Woodland Trust. Your decision to choose Golden Charter will not only give you peace of mind but also bring pleasure to future generations.

What to do next?

If you would discuss funeral plans further or would like to arrange for a funeral director to visit you then email us your details or telephone 0161 773 2749 to arrange an appointment.

Alternatively click here to download our personalised pre-paid funeral plan brochure.