Happy New Year from Final Fling – the positive thinking, forward planning, reality checking life support system. Since Final Fling began its life in 2012 as a life support system for people faced with making tricky life and death decisions or those thinking ahead, the world has changed.
A funeral payments consultation is underway in Scotland. It’s part of a broader 13 week Social Security Consultation that Scottish Government is carrying out as it shapes its first ever Social Security Bill. The consultation closes on Friday, 28 October 2016. The legislation is due to be introduced to the Scotland Parliament by June 2017. The […]
This week, James Sherlock shares his thoughts about funeral plan age limits and asks whether we need to offer funeral plans at any age.”My daughter sadly passed away of a life-limiting condition. Since that experience, I believe that everyone should have the right to buy a funeral plan and be able to organise their own funeral.
I had a call from someone new to Final Fling today who was looking for help to plan for the end. Let’s call her Laura. And I had a message from ‘Moya’, who was looking for exactly the same help. Both were prompted to plan by activities during Dying Matters Awareness Week. Hurrah! Moya had […]
At the end of 2015, Scottish Government commissioned Citizens Advice Scotland to produce a report about the cost of funerals in Scotland. Final Fling met with authors John Birrell and Fraser Sutherland in December to talk ‘funeral poverty’ and feed into the report.
SunLife’s annual Cost of Dying 2015 report is out. And the good news is, the cost of dying is down by a whole £300. Which would be great except that’s down to £8,126. Ouch. Within that figure, the cost of a basic funeral is up to £3,693 and a quarter of the total cost, around £2,000 is for “the send-off”.
This week, Emily McLaren blogs for us about paying for a funeral and how crowdfunding could be a major innovation in funeral finance.
I’m grateful to friend of Final Fling, Becky, this week for sharing useful information about bereavement fares. Apparently some airlines offer special fares to support travellers rushing back home from travels because someone close to them is dying or has died. It’s not a huge amount – maybe 10% off – but every little helps.
The SunLife ‘Cost of Dying’ report is out for 2014. Here are their findings:
Latest research reveals the total cost of dying in the UK has risen over 10% in the last year. The cost of dying now averages £8,427. This is seven times higher than the cost of living.
Funeral poverty is an increasing issue in the UK. This month Sun Life publish their annual Cost of Dying Report. We’re confident we can predict that as far as funeral costs go, the only way is up. Understand the issues…
If you need help to organise a funeral or you’re thinking ahead about your own wishes, we’ve lots of ways to help from first steps when someone dies to winding up an Estate.
At a distressing time, funeral costs can add further worry to individuals and families. Funerals have been called ‘the ultimate distress purchase’. They are often planned in haste, under stress and few want to bicker over costs.
Funeral consumer rights Everyone is entitled to their rights as a consumer, especially at a potentially vulnerable time. If you are purchasing funeral services or products, take a little time to shop around. The directories above offer more than one option so you can call or email a couple to find the best option for […]
You can get help and advice on benefits, services and other welfare entitlements from a number of sources. The phone directory and Thomson’s Local have these numbers right at the front, and there’s a host of other charities
The average funeral costs between £3-4,000. With legal bills, the cost of dying is around £7,000. Not surprising, 1 in 5 people struggles to meet the costs. The Sun Life Cost of Dying report (produced with Bath Uni’s Centre for Death and Society) paints a stark picture about the average cost of dying and looks at the growing issue […]