Who is Money Saving Expert?

MoneySavingExpert was founded in 2003 by Martin Lewis. It’s the UK’s biggest consumer website with around 15 million users a month and is known for championing the customer in saving money, finding deals and more recently campaigning for financial justice for the consumer.

Which Funeral Plans do Money Saving Expert Offer?

Martin Lewis provides advice on funeral plans and a comparison of market leading funeral plan providers. Also known as the Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis lists the top 10 things you need to know about buying a funeral plan, including details about the funeral planning authority and your security.

Although he offers information on funeral plans and compares some of the market leaders as we do in our independent reviews and comparison section, they do not offer funeral plans themselves.

What does Money Saving Expert say about prepaid funeral plans?

Moneysaving expert Martin Lewis’ guide to prepaid funeral plans explores whether funeral plans are worth the money. It highlights his ‘best buys’, including services by Age UK (Dignity), Co op and Golden Charter explaining what is covered in each of their plans.

His top 10 funeral plan tips detail the services included in plans and those you may pay extra for, how they work, pros and cons and how to ensure your money is safe.

Importantly the Funeral Planning Authority or FPA as it is known is mentioned and the importance of choosing a funeral plan provider that is registered with and therefore regulated by them. It states that a funeral plan provider that is registered with the FPA has had to prove that they meet certain standards and that the money is invested in a separate trust fund or life insurance policy. This means that if the funeral plan provider goes bust, the money you have paid for your funeral plan is ring-fenced and protected, ready to pay for your funeral services.

Martin Lewis advises you to always ensure your provider is signed up to the the Funeral Planning Authority - something we at Over50choices whole heartedly agree with. 

What else do Money Saving Expert say?

The guide also makes the point that by paying for a funeral plan, you are using funds you may ideally want in the future to pay in advance for your funeral; rather than the family using money from your estate when the time comes.

This is a valid point however it is worth keeping in mind that it frequently takes time to settle an estate when a person has died, which may leave the family having to cover the funeral costs in the first instance.

It also means that the family will have to make all of the funeral arrangements, whereas a funeral plan removes that worry from them as the funeral director takes care of everything.

Important information to add to the MoneySavingExpert Funeral Plan guide

The MoneySavingExpert guide is thorough, balanced and touches on some important aspects of funeral plans. Information on the different type of plans however could be a little clearer as it doesn’t really explain the difference between contribution and guaranteed style funeral plans and the impact it could have on families.

All funeral plan providers include a full guarantee for the funeral directors services, which includes things like their help and advice with all the paperwork; services on the day of the funeral, a coffin, hearse and depending on the level of service, the use of the chapel of rest and a limousine for family.

Only two funeral plan providers, Dignity and Coop,  however include a full guarantee for the all important cremation fees and ministers’ fees. All other funeral plans just include a contribution for these services which could leave the family with more to pay.

We are sure that when the time is right Martin Lewis and his team will develop their funeral plan section of their website, particlularly that it is now featuring highly in google search results it needs to be more comprehensive.