When someone buys a direct cremation funeral plan, there are some features that are usually really important to them.
Firstly, they are taking out a plan so that family don’t have to pay – so they want a plan that includes everything they need in the price, (like the Pure Price Promise), not a plan that might leave family with extra costs. Dignity will charge extra if someone has a pacemaker that needs to be removed for instance, and Co-op won't deliver the ashes back to family, they will have to go and collect them .
Secondly, it’s usually important that the company they buy the plan from will also perform the cremation, since that’s the company they have chosen. But if you buy a plan from Golden Charter, for instance, you won’t know which company will actually do the cremation, as Golden Charter don’t own any crematoria.
Finally, most people will want their ashes to be returned to loved ones in an urn, but some companies like Distinct Cremations cut costs by using, in their own words, a ‘temporary ashes container’.
So, here are five of the most popular funeral plan providers and what they do (and don’t) offer:
