Recession sparks funeral plan sales surge

THE recession has sparked a boom in sales for funeral plans, the Co-operative funeral business said today.

The Manchester group said its Funeralcare business, which is the UK’s largest funeral director, has seen a 28% hike in like-for-like sales of funeral plans in the first half of 2009.

Last year The Co-operative Funeralcare, which is based in Manchester, achieved sales of £274m and conducted 100,000 funerals.

The Co-operative believes that the loss of confidence in other types of savings and investments, traditionally relied on to cover funeral costs, has led to the steep increase in the numbers making provision for when they die.

One of the key benefits of the Co-op’s funeral plans is that they are guaranteed to cover the costs of the agreed funeral arrangements, regardless of any future rise in costs.

In the past five years alone the average cost of a funeral in the UK has increased from £1,965 to £2,573, mainly due to the rise in disbursement costs for example   cremation fees and costs of burial spaces.

The Co-operative is expecting to sell up to 50,000 funeral planning products this year.

The funeral planning market is now estimated to be worth over £500m a year as more people see the benefits of  planning, and paying for their funeral in advance.

Ian Mackie, managing director of funeral planning for The Co-operative Funeralcare, said: “At a time when many people have lost faith in other kinds of investments that cannot guarantee a return that keeps up with increases in costs, we have seen a significant increase in people opting to buy a funeral plan.

“They represent a very good investment as they are guaranteed against any future increases in costs which would not be the case if people just relied on the interest earned on savings.  More importantly they also offer that most important element – peace of mind.”