Avalon funeral plans review

As with many other funeral plans, Avalon funeral plans don’t guarantee to cover all third-party fees.

Third-party costs are doctors fees and minister fees, and fees to carry out the burial or cremation.

Avalon contribute up to £1,000 towards these costs, but this may not be a sufficient amount when the time comes.

This is because third party fees make up to on average £860 for a cremation and £2,288 for a burial.

And this is just today’s rate.

Third-party fees are expected to increase in line with rising funeral costs, (which have risen 130% in the last 16 years^[1]).

Therefore, the Avalon contribution could be worth less in the future, and your loved ones may have to pay the shortfall for this.

But funeral plans purchased through Reassured do guarantee to cover all third-party costs, even if costs rise in the future.

So your loved ones would have nothing else to pay.

Get in touch with a member of our award-winning team and secure your fully guaranteed funeral plan today.

If you opt to pay by monthly instalments over a number of years, you must have paid all the instalments by your 80th or 90th birthday (depending on your age).

If you’re aged between 18 and 77, and you opt to pay by monthly instalments, you could qualify for the Avalon Promise.

Funeral plans purchased through Reassured offer similar payment options, none of which require a deposit.

As explained previously, unlike the funeral plans we offer, Avalon funeral plans don’t cover all third-party fees.

This is the doctor fees, minister fees and cremation or burial fees.

Instead, they provide an allowance to cover some of the costs, and your loved ones may have to pay the remaining balance when the time comes.

Also, Avalon funeral plans don’t include the cost of a burial plot.

This is usually the case with funeral plans, as the cost of burial plots vary greatly across the UK.

Other elements not included in an Avalon funeral plan are the flowers, memorial, obituary, catering, and the wake.

There may also be extra charges if your loved ones choose to change the funeral director (within the Avalon network), or were to have the funeral at the weekend.

Unless you have a repatriation funeral plan, an Avalon funeral plan won’t cover the cost of the repatriation back to the UK or N.Ireland.

The cheapest Avalon funeral plan for no-fuss direct cremation costs £1,895 or from £17.76 per month.

A direct cremation is when the body of the deceased is taken directly to the crematorium, and a traditional funeral service isn’t held.

Loved ones won’t need to attend the crematorium in this scenario, except for to collect the ashes after the cremation has taken place.

Avalon also offer a cremation with service funeral plan, which costs £2,695 or from £25.67 per month.

This is a direct cremation, but on this occasion your loved ones can organise a funeral service held at the crematorium.

If you’d prefer to have a traditional funeral held by a minister or celebrant, get in touch with a representative at Reassured who’ll be able to help.

The Avalon funeral trust holds the funeral plan funds until they are ready to be used.

The trust is separate from Avalon funeral plans and managed by independent trustees.

They ensure that there are enough funds in the trust to ensure that customers of Avalon funeral plans receive the funeral they paid for.

FPA approved funeral plans will have this form of protection in place.

Funeral plans arranged through Reassured are fully FPA approved so you have peace of mind your money is protected.

Avalon funeral plans provide many benefits, however, whether an Avalon funeral plan is right for you will depend on your own personal circumstances.

The Avalon direct cremation options are the cheapest (from £1,895), however, this won’t provide your loved ones with the opportunity to say their goodbyes at a funeral service.

Unless they choose to carry out the funeral service themselves, which can be a lot for them to take on during a time of grief.

The traditional funeral plan options start from £3,645 or from £35.06 a month.

For the most expensive funeral plans on the market, the services included in each plan aren’t exceptional to those of other funeral plans.

It may be that Avalon funeral plans are able to charge more for their plans as they are award-winning, and offer the unique online LifeLocker tool.

For the most expensive plans on the market, it is a surprise that Avalon only offer a contribution up to £1,000 towards third party fees.

Although they do increase their contribution each year in line with consumer price index (CPI), this probably won’t keep up with rising funeral costs (average cost of third-party fees have increased over 60% in the last 10 years).

All funeral plans arranged through Reassured guarantee to cover all third party fees so that even when prices rise, your loved ones won’t have anything left to pay.

Our funeral plans start from just £3,295 or from £19.81* per month.

[1] https://www.sunlife.co.uk/siteassets/documents/cost-of-dying/SL-cost-of-dying-report-2020.pdf/

^*Equated to a £165 discount only available to Co-op members. Based on 50 year old purchasing a Simple Funeral Plan at £3,295 with 25 years payment term

†Based on 50 years old purchasing a Standard Funeral Plan at £3,645 with 15 years payment term

‡Only available through our Co-op funeral plans. Doesn’t apply to the 2-25 year instalment payment plan