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  • January 2015
01

Sales of funeral pre-paid plans up by 9%

Open-access content Thursday 29th January 2015

Pre-paid funeral plan sales grew by 9% in 2014 and more than £3.2bn is invested across the funeral sector, according to research.

2

Sales of plans by providers registered with the Funeral Planning Authority (FPA) increased by around 12,000 to 147,325. 

According to funeral plan provider Golden Charter, with the average cost of a funeral in 2014 being £3,400, the total amount invested in plans was £500m.

The increase brings the total number of plans in force to 950,000, with 60,000 paying out each year. Around 10% of funerals are funded by pre-paid plans, the firm said. 

It said growing concerns about paying for a funeral was driving the growth, with the average cost of a funeral rising around 3% per year.

In pre-paid plans, customers pay a lump sum up front which contributes to the cost of their funeral.

Golden Charter chief executive Ronnie Wayte said: "Funeral plan sales have shown strong and consistent growth since 2006 and are increasingly a major part of later life planning.

"Pre-paid funeral plans give people comfort that their funeral is paid for and that they can have the funeral they want. While it may not be a subject we like talking about nobody wants to leave a debt burden on their families."

This article appeared in our January 2015 issue of The Actuary .
Click here to view this issue

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