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Inflation-proof Funeral Plans Becoming Popular in UK, Pay Upfront and Spare Your Families!

by Gopalan on Sep 18 2008 11:55 AM

Inflation-proof funeral plans becoming popular in UK, pay upfront and spare your families! Such is the trend now.

Yes, the welfare state that cared for you from womb to tomb is dead. And even in death costs haunt you. Do what you can to beat it, that is the only option.

Britain's leading funeral provider, The Co-operative Funeralcare, said sales of its inflation-proof policies have gone up by 30 per cent over the past year.

Fees for cremations have increased by more than £100 over the past year alone because of soaring fuel bills and a new environmental surcharge.

A spokesman said: "Over the past year, we have faced the same rising costs as the general population, namely in energy and fuel.

"The general rise in costs across the funeral sector may go some way to explaining the increasing number of people taking out funeral plans which allow them to plan and pay for their funeral before they die."

It is estimated that the cost of dying in Britain is now almost £6,000.

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A burial costs about £2,600 and a cremation £2,100, with the price of a headstone, flowers and a wake making up the rest of the bill.

However the cost of a cremation ceremony is said to have risen by 40 per cent in the past year alone because of higher gas prices and a new "green" charge.

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The Government wants a 50 per cent reduction in the amount of mercury - found in old dental fillings - released into the atmosphere by crematoria, which is forcing them to fit expensive new filters. The costs of these are being passed on to customers.

Dominic McGuire of the National Association of Funeral Directors told Telegraph newspaper: "These price increases have certainly started filtering through.

"These rises in crematorium fees are the latest in a series of increases that started a couple of years ago.

"We are certainly feeling the pressure of fuel bills as well as the hidden costs of increased health and safety regulations and red tape.

"We find ourselves in the position of having to increase our prices well above the rate of the Retail Price Index."

As each one is left to fend for himself or herself, even your funeral is becoming your funeral, solely so!

Did not Margaret Thatcher famously say, there’s no such thing as society?

What it all adds to one’s mental health is another story.

Source-Medindia
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