A prepaid funeral plan lets you arrange and pay for your funeral in advance, removing the financial and emotional burden from your family.

You pay a lump sum or monthly payments to your chosen funeral plan provider and in return, secure your funeral services at today's prices, therefore saving money by avoiding future inflation. 

Our ‘Benefits’ section explains how a prepaid funeral plan can help you and your family. You can watch our short video, ‘Funerals, don’t leave it to chance’; try out our interactive ‘funeral calculator’ which highlights the impact inflation will have on future funeral costs versus savings and read our frequently asked questions to fully understand how the plans work

Most plan providers offer 3 levels of service which are explained in our ‘Types of Plan’ section; the main differences being the quality of the coffin and whether a Limousine is included for family and friends (all plans come with a Hearse).

The majority of plans also include a contribution towards your third party costs, which includes cremation or burial fees and  the minister's and doctors charges. The Dignity plan guarantees the cremation and ministers fees listed in the plan, freezing them at today's prices. See our "Types of Plan" section for more details.

Please note that a second doctors certificate is no longer required in Scotland and as this is due to be law in England & Wales as well, some plan providers have removed this from their plans and reduced their prices.

You also have the opportunity to personalise your funeral and make any special requests, either when you apply or at a later date, such as; hymns, music, dress code, wake or party, religious or non-religious service etc.

With the Dignity Funeral Plan you can choose a cremation or burial service; or perhaps you're not sure yet, in which case you don't have to decide now - the most important thing is to secure your funeral services at today's prices and then you can tell us what you prefer when you're ready.

Whether you choose cremation or burial, it's good to know that the cost of a funeral director for conducting and arranging the funeral are frozen at today's prices no matter when in the future the plan is used.

Cremation Funeral - what you need to know

Over 80% of people choose a cremation funeral in the UK; with this option the Dignity Funeral Plan will also freeze your cremation and ministers fees at today's prices, a point worth noting as not all plans offer this guarantee on these services, which could leave your family being asked to pay more when the time comes.

You can also specify what you would like to happen to your ashes and any other special requests.

Burial Funeral - what you need to know

The first point to note about a burial funeral plan is that no plan provider will pay for your burial plot, which could add a considerable cost to your funeral arrangements, typically between £500 to over £1,500 depending on where you live.

You can find out your local burial plot costs by contacting your local council or privately owned cemetery or google "your town burial plot costs" and this will usually give you the information you need.

If you already have a family burial plot or have pre-purchased your plot then the only costs will be to open the grave referred to as "interment".

The Dignity Funeral Plan offers one of the largest allowances of £1,220 towards your burial costs, which can be used towards any aspect of the burial fees, including the cost of the burial plot. In addition, unlike many other providers if there is any money left over from the allowance, this will be returned to your estate.

You don't have to purchase your burial plot at the same time as taking out the funeral plan, you can either do it at a later date or leave this to your family to sort out when the time comes (using the money left from the allowance to help with the cost).

You can specify any special requests with regards to where you would like to be buried, details of your plot or any other aspect of your funeral.

Our ‘compare funeral plans prices’ section includes a comparison table that highlights plan prices with some of the UK’s leading funeral plan providers, so you can see at a glance how they compare.

We recommend that you ensure the plan provider is a member of the Funeral Planning Authority (FPA). Which includes Golden Charter, Dignity and Avalon. Perfect Choice, Age UK, the Post Office, Golden Leaves and the Co-operative funeralcare.

Our “Ways to Pay” section shows the payment options available to you; from paying in one go to spreading your costs with instalment options between 1 and 25 years. 

If you have a budget in mind, let us know so we can talk through the various options available to you.

Hopefully there will be a plan and payment option that meets your budget.

Whether you want information on a specific plan; would like a personal quote; have some questions or would like to talk through your options, you can get in touch by requesting a brochure or quote; via email; calling our free phone number or chatting online. 

All brochures come with application forms, although you can also apply online using our link.

We love to talk and want to help you get the best plan that suits your needs, so please get in touch

A prepaid funeral plan allows you to pay for your funeral costs in advance and specify your final wishes, protecting your family from the financial and emotional stress when the time comes.

Here are some of the key factors you should consider:

 - whether you want peace of mind of guaranteeing that your family will have nothing more to pay when the time comes.

- cremation and burial costs vary by region and so where you live could have an impact on the overall cost of your funeral

- your age: the younger you are the more likely that funeral inflation will increase funeral costs over time

Research carried out by SunLife shows the average cost of a funeral in the UK to be *£3,897 and this figure does not include flowers, memorials, wakes, notices or probate fees. Funeral costs are rising every year, why not use our calculator to see the impact inflation could have on future prices.

Yes, we offer national coverage so it doesn’t matter where you live.

Yes, although please be aware that a joint funeral plan is one plan written in both names, so will only pay for one funeral, leaving the other person with no provision. You will need to take out 2 plans if you want to ensure that you are both protected.

The plan provider will arrange for the services of a funeral director who is in your area.

All funeral insurance plans are flexible and portable, (some providers, like Golden Charter for example do not guarantee that you won't have  to pay more) which means that wherever you live in mainland UK, you can choose a funeral director that accepts the provider’s plan close to you.

Yes, you may wish to add your “wishes” to the plan so that your next of kin knows what you want when the time comes, for example, music, hymns, reception or you can fully bespoke a plan.

We compare funeral plans for Funeral Planning Authority providers, however, we have chosen to recommend Dignity as we believe that they offer excellent value for money; guaranteeing the cost of a funeral director to arrange and conduct the funeral and your cremation and ministers fees at today's prices.

The following providers are all FPA regulated but only offer a contribution towards 3rd party costs:

• Golden Leaves
• Perfect Choice
• Liberty
• Golden Charter
• Choice
• Avalon

Please note that Saga do not provide pre-paid funeral plans and Age UK and Post Office plans are provided by Dignity. .

Open Prepaid Funerals, Pride Planning & Safe Hands Funeral Plans are not regulated by the Funeral Planning Authority. 

Yes, Dignity who we recommend are regulated by the Funeral Planning Authority (FPA) which is the main regulatory body to regulate funeral plans. Where ever you buy your plan we would recommend that they are regulated by the FPA.

Other bodies that you may come across, such as the NAFD & NFFD are trade bodies that are more concerned with the level of service quality provided by funeral directors.

Yes you can buy a funeral plan for someone else. You will be able to specify this when applying for the plan by adding yourself as plan representative. As the plan purchaser and representative, all correspondence will be sent directly to you if you wish.

No you don’t. Your application will be accepted regardless of your state of health.

Most people don't start looking for a plan until they are in their 50's, although the minimum age for some plan providers is 18 years of age, we recommend the Dignity Plan and you have to be aged 50 or over to take out a plan.

Yes, you can choose to either have a religious funeral with a minister or a non religious funeral, known as a humanist funeral service.

If you would like the humanist service you may wish to specify this in your “special requirements or expression of wishes form” that can be held with your plan provider so when the time comes your family will be aware of your wishes.

Yes, we can arrange this for you.

The costs will depend on your requirements, as some people will just require an eco-friendly coffin whereas others prefer a fully carbon neutral service. Green funeral plans are increasing in popularity but generally are more expensive.

Is the funeral plan provider regulated by the Funeral Planning Authority?

Are my funeral directors costs guaranteed?

Are the cremation fees guaranteed at today's prices - only Dignity and Coop funeral plans currently offer this.

If paying monthly, how much extra will you pay in additional charges or interest

How is my money stored and how safe is it?

There are a few other websites that allow you to compare funeral plans, but the large comparison sites; Go Compare, Moneysupermarket, Confused, Money and Martin Lewis' Moneysavingexpert as of yet are not providing this service.