Coping with the cost of funerals.

Choose funeral plans carefully, writes financial journalist Stephanie Hawthorne.

- Stephanie Hawthorne

DESPITE the fact that most of us I want to ease the burden on relatives and friends, only a minority have written a will, let alone planned our funerals.

My own preference is to put money in an ordinary savings account to pay for my funeral.

Typically, banks will freeze your accounts on death but executors (or administrators, if there is no will) can access the money before probate.

If they produce a death certificate, the invoice for the funeral costs with their name on it and proof of identity, that is usually enough.

Even simpler, if you have a joint account, your spouse can access money with minimal formality.

Shockingly, though, some people who thought only of others and made the decision to buy a funeral plan then have been let down.

Funeral plans allow you to pay in advance for your funeral.

They come with charges and limitations to specific funeral directors and restrictions on what is or is not covered.

Their big selling point is that you buy your funeral for the future at today's prices, with the proceeds only available for funeral costs.

Funeral directors and insurance firms sell these plans, and they are listed on comparison websites.

But watch your step.

This market has been something of a wild west industry with no regulation.

Some providers have been poorly funded and gone bust, leaving people to pay for funerals out of their own pockets.

For example, the firm "Safe Hands" collapsed, leaving 46,000 customers facing losses.

Fortunately, Dignity, one of the UK larger funeral directors, has agreed temporarily to provide funerals for Safe Hands customers on a "not-for-profit" basis.

Hopefully, such disasters will now be a thing of the past.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has introduced tough new rules for funeral providers, including a ban on cold calling and also on commission.