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• 78% of Brits  are unsure about their partner’s final wishes
• Over one in four incorrectly guessed whether their partner would prefer to be buried or cremated
• Planning in advance with Age Concern Funeral Plans ensures that personal requests are made known

Seventy-eight per cent of Brits  are unclear about what their partner’s final wishes would be if they passed away without warning and over one in four incorrectly guessed whether their partner would prefer to be buried or cremated reveals Age Concern Funeral Plans today¹.

The survey of over 1‚150 married and/or co-habiting adults in the UK shows that loved ones would not be able to accurately guess the final wishes of their partner‚ therefore many people’s final requests would not be adhered to if they passed away unexpectedly.

Surprisingly‚ 72% per cent of partners wrongly guessed whether or not their other half would want flowers at their funeral. There is also a lack of awareness amongst couples regarding favourite items their partners might wish to include in burial or cremation‚ such as a photograph‚ jewellery or mobile phone*.

Sharon Dobson‚ Age Concern Funeral Plans Manager said‚ “People generally don’t talk about their funeral wishes‚ even though many people do know what arrangements they would like. However‚ unless we are open and honest with partners and loved ones‚ they will never have the chance to celebrate our final wishes. 

“Pre-planning a funeral ensures that any requests people have can be respected.  It also relieves family and loved ones of the organisational stress when the time comes‚ and helps avoid unnecessary financial burden during a particularly difficult time‚” she added.

Age Concern Funeral Plans has introduced the new Age Concern Guaranteed Funeral Plan.  The new plan enables people to fix cremation funeral costs at today’s prices and guarantees to cover the full cost of funeral services included in the plan whenever these are needed2.  This makes good financial sense as the latest figures show that the average cremation funeral costs £2‚3903 and this figure is predicted to rise to £3‚3504 by 2012.

The Age Concern Funeral Plan is designed to appeal to all with no age restrictions‚ no medicals required and guaranteed acceptance.  There are three Funeral Plan packages available offering a choice of arrangements and individual requests.  Even personal choices such as selecting hymns for the service‚ preferred flowers‚ and the route for the cortege can be arranged. The Age Concern Funeral Plan service ensures that personal requests and customer records remain confidential‚ safe and secure until required. 

Age Concern’s Funeral Plan provides flexible plans and payment methods to suit different requirements and is provided in collaboration with Dignity Caring Funeral Services.  Since Age Concern launched Funeral Plans a decade ago‚ it has sold over 130‚000 plans.  To find out more about Age Concern Funeral Plans‚ call 0800 022 3245‚ visit your local Age Concern‚ visit our the Age Concern Funeral Plans web page.

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For further information please contact Elly Kestenbaum‚ Imogen Davies or Jess Baker at Trimedia on 020 7025 7500 or email 

Notes to editors:

1 Funerals‚ Families and Joined-Up Planning‚ January 2008 – Omnibus research conducted by ICM on behalf of Age Concern Enterprises. Over 2000 adults were interviewed in Great Britain in December 2007. Research managed by ACRS (Age Concern Research Services) on the behalf of ACEnt (Age Concern Enterprises).

2 Only available to those aged 65+

*3 Mintel Funeral Business Survey‚ 2007

4 Dignity Caring Funeral Services

About Age Concern:

Age Concern is the leading charity in the UK concerned with ageing and older people‚ and works to improve the quality of life for all older people. Nationally‚ it is involved in campaigning‚ policy guidance‚ research and information‚ and through its trading arm‚ Age Concern Enterprises (ACEnt)‚ offers a range of products and services specifically designed for older people.

ACEnt incorporates: Age Concern Energy Services‚ Age Concern Insurance Services‚ Age Concern Funeral Plans and Charity Flowers Direct.

Age Concern & why it trades:

At a local level‚ Age Concern offers a range of services for older people‚ such as day centres‚ luncheon clubs‚ and advice and information services.
At a national level‚ Age Concern campaigns with and for older people: developing policy; influencing Government; training care professionals; supporting local Age Concern bodies‚ financially and professionally.

To fund this work‚ Age Concern needs a constant flow of independent income. It seeks to achieve this through a balance of traditional fund raising and trading activities.

Age Concern’s trading activities enable it to meet the needs of older people‚ through products specifically designed for them; quality products at fair prices such as General Insurance.

About Dignity Caring Funeral Services:
Dignity plc is Britain’s largest single provider of funeral related services and is the market leader in the provision of pre-arranged funeral plans.  Dignity has a network of over 500 funeral homes throughout Britain.  For more information visit www.dignityfunerals.co.uk

For general enquiries about our products please contact us.

Journalists contact:

Trimedia
Derya Filiz
Elly Kestenbaum
Imogen Davies

Telephone:
0207 025 7500