Funeral plans surge on falling savings rates

The Co-operative said funeral plan sales increased by 21 per cent last year compared with 2008, with the cost of funerals rising and more people making provisions for their own funerals. The cost of the average funeral doubled in the ten years to 2007, according to the Co-operative, primarily because of higher cremation fees, more expensive burial spaces and increased fees for officials such as doctors and ministers. It also revealed that tailor-made plans, where people arrange more personalised funerals, now account for almost a third of all plans sold.