75ZT Community

Anyone bought a funeral plan? I have had one with Golden Charter for ~ 25yrs. It offered four plans and I bought what was its top and most expensive. I was swayed by the quality American-type casket which the plan provides whereas the other three provided a coffin of varying quality dependent on the plan chosen. The value of the casket alone outwith the plan was said at the time to be worth most of what I was paying for my complete plan, which reinforced my view of a good deal.

So the years rolled by and in recent years I received a letter from Golden Charter showing what it thinks??? is a statement of what my plan provides. Its use of the word coffin in the statement stood out and set alarm bells ringing as great care was taken to differentiate it from a casket at the time. Is it a slip of the pen, I wonder, or is Golden Charter hoping that memory of the details of our contract might have faded and it is attempting to rewrite it at my expense. Hmmm?

Maybe they are under new management.

More than likely a new...undertaking....

This is something we are considering after we finally sorted wills and POA's. What has stopped us so far is the uncertainty of the longevity of the company's and their underwriters. I really need to look into what guarantees are in place. As for your "rewording" it's certainly worth a query?

Don't have a plan ourselves, but my parents both did. Pure cremation. I hope it worked for them, we experienced no problems. It was totally their choice, and we had no complaints.

Bermudan 75 wrote:More than likely a new...undertaking....

Pleeeease, this is a very grave matter.

Actually, you mention one of the problems that I'm going to have to deal with as does the post above yours re management. I guess funeral plans are like wills, the longer they run for the more chance of changeable events occurring. Will discuss further but had a long day out today and struggling to stay awake so will have to retire for now.

I have yet to contact Golden Charter (GC) about my concerns and I say concerns because more have arisen. Many shudder and put off discussing matters relating to this topic but at the end of the day someone has to sit down with an undertaker and do it. With a funeral plan you do this in advance of the inevitable and get to make your own arrangements, and in so doing you accept the responsibility and do not unfairly burden those you leave behind with having to sort things for you. They will thank you for it because at a time of bereavement emotions can be quite fragile and with many decisions having to be made in a very short time. It can be unbearably stressful.

In effect GC is an insurer as the services which the plan provides for are carried out by third parties. I had to nominate a church and an undertaker on my application, both have subsequently closed. I knew about the Church closing but the undertaker ceasing trading I found out via a letter from GC advising me of it and of its nominated replacement. I have never heard of its replacement and not without good reason. It is not local, not even in the same town and is what I would describe as regional. I have recently tried to nominate my own replacement but GC have rejected it saying that they can not currently give my business to a member of the Dignity Group - of which my chosen replacement apparently is. This set another alarm bell ringing as I had no recollection of this constraint being mentioned at the time of application.

I knew that I had kept all paperwork and that I had placed it somewhere safe, so safe that I had to search high and low to find it for a few weeks on and off. Found it a couple of days ago and it is indeed very specific that the plan provides for a casket and the sales brochure shows this too together with what each of the three other plans include - coffin, coffin, coffin ... CASKET.

This statement of what I consider to be facts (note I didn't say story) doesn't fill me with confidence that ones wishes will be granted I'm afraid. It seems even at the end people are expected to have to fight for what is rightfully and legally theirs.
Good on you for standing up for yourself.

It would appear that GC are owned by an association of independent funeral directors. I presume that Dignity are not part of the gang.

It seems that they now have three plans:-

Direct Cremation Plan - A coffin suitable for cremation

Standard Plan - A simple coffin

Select Plan - A high-quality coffin

If you have an agreement with them for a casket, I would imagine that they are bound to provide that.

Thanks for that info Daveo. I was not aware that GC was owned by its undertakers nor of its current offerings of funeral plans. It could explain the antics that I'm being subjected to and I should get a better idea soon as I've I've been out and about consulting with a couple of other different undertakers, one of which is going to contact GC about becoming my nominated undertaker. If GC rejects again I will in due course submit a formal request for an explanation pointing to the representation it used in its sales literature which clearly conveys the right on me to nominate the undertaker.

Never heard from GC since taking out the plan a couple of decades ago, but guess what? I received yet another letter in recent days advising yet again of what the plan provides and the word coffin is used again. This suggests that it might not be a slip of the pen and that GC might be trying to trouser the money I've paid for my casket - a quality American-type with solid brass bar handles and ivory silk lining. The casket is listed in the sales brochure and in my copy of the contract for the plan so it is not an agreement, it is a contractual obligation.

Given my experience I would choose the Co-Op if I knew then what I know now. It does everything in house and it has been around for donkeys years and is less likely than a small family run business to suddenly close shop and leave you with problems.

Yesterday i fitted an SSC to a Rover 75 not done one for ages maybe over a year, nice and steady, doubt i will ever get back to the days when i could fit one in 20 minutes, also changed some of the front bumper bolts and headlight bolts to nice shiny stainless steel ones, Don & Val were very pleased and that's what counts, later today usual checks on all the fluids and tyre pressures of the Kong and the Ork.

Hopefully see a few of you at next weekends Nano meet have a good day.

Yesterday was A/C compressor change day on the V6. Did it through the front as I have previously followed the manual and did it through the wheel arch. Never again, the three 10mm head bolts that hold the compressor on where positioned by lucifer himself. at least the front has been off so many times its not rusted solid

Anyone else like this, into Vikings lately.
https://youtu.be/cf59dXagNcw?si=bGfJ9vZq4I_aE4tH


https://youtu.be/VInwR3nq_Uw?si=7IEMlEv04XRkB1wg

Another scorcher in NE England today. Loads of jobs backing up to do but keep getting diverted and the hot weather is more of a hindrance than a help as it saps energy and motivation. Very easy to burn in the sun too if care is not taken. Had a good day in the rear garden yesterday and managed to get on top of one side of it, but as I've mentioned before it is more of a battle than a pleasure as it is growing aggressively in the weather we are experiencing. The house has fake Tudor planking outside which requires attention too, I knew that one piece needed replacing but getting up on the ladders for a closer look in recent days revealed more if not all is in need of replacement. Been trying to source pressure treated planking for the job but getting it in the thickness I require (~22mm) is not as easy as I expected it to be. A few places have treated timber but when pressed for more info it is not pressure treated, just surface treated with preservative which is not as good and not what I want. Be careful in the heatwave we are all enduring, stay cool and keep well hydrated.

Not a bad day here in NE England, still quite warm outside but seems a little more tolerable than it's been in the last couple of weeks. Think I might have got my concern about my funeral plan with Golden Charter sorted, visited the undertaker I've been placed with after the previous one ceased trading and found him to be helpful and an ok guy. He checked his record for my plan and confirmd that it reflects what I have with respect to the provision of a casket and not a coffin. He took the matter up with GC who apparently put the confusion down to its use of a standard letter which does not reflect the details of my particular plan. Personally I'm not sure of the wisdom of using a standard letter when one of its older plans has a specific and very important difference to GC's other plans. A letter will be sent to me to clarify the situation courtesy of the help from my new undertaker with whom it is now my intention to stay with. Although he is not as local as I would have preferred the distance may not be important to my circumstances come the day and he gave an impression of trust and confidence which is most important to me.

While out and about looking at the alternatives if needed I called in to a launderette to inquire about the cost of having a Jacket and a duvet cleaned. Jacket is £15 and duvet £20, I've yet to recover from the shock. I mean, you can get a new duvet for less than half that price. Neither are noticeably dirty, was just thinking of getting them freshened up but will leave it for now.

WillyHeckaslike wrote:
While out and about looking at the alternatives if needed I called in to a launderette to inquire about the cost of having a Jacket and a duvet cleaned. Jacket is £15 and duvet £20, I've yet to recover from the shock. I mean, you can get a new duvet for less than half that price. Neither are noticeably dirty, was just thinking of getting them freshened up but will leave it for now.

Re your comment on cost of cleaning, it's all part of the new world where it is cheaper to replace things rather than repair. Even cars are falling into this category at an increasingly greater value, unfortunately.

Very true Bernard. Plus on reflection a business like a launderette will be hit hard by any hike in the price of electricity, more so than domestic users as I don't think commercial users can benefit from the same deals.

Shower shoot & shave day today, feeling nice and fresh after doing some garden chores, also managed to set up my monitor and laptop in the man cave, later i might do a good tool tidy up, or i might just watch a bit of football and then do our fish and chip meal for the early evening. lovely day here in the west Midlands, hope you all are having a decent day too.

spent most of the day changing a duff coil on the petrol hedgetrimmer made the mistake of starting it after without the clutch bell on and the spring and weights of the centrifugal clutch flew off into never to be found land .
still, had to change the A/C compressor on the 75 the other week and had a successful regas this morning.

Anyone got any experience of wallpapering, done plenty of painting but never had to hang wallpaper before. Bought on impulse in recent days some wallpaper with the intention of doing a feature wall only, the fact that it was being sold at a fraction of its original retail price might have had a bit to do with it. Which wall is recommended, the wall opposite the window in a room I seem to recall might have been recommended at some time but not really sure. Also what about corners, do joins go in corners or are they best avoided. Any advice and tips are welcome to this novice.