Martin Lewis on Funeral Plans (2026 UK Guide)
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Quick answer
Martin Lewis does not give a blanket "yes" or "no" on funeral plans. His position is: an FCA-regulated pre-paid plan can make sense to lock in a price against inflation — but high-interest savings can do the same job with more flexibility. He is consistently critical of over-50s life insurance marketed as funeral cover. He has discussed direct cremation as a sensible cost-saving option for many families.
Martin Lewis is the founder of MoneySavingExpert (MSE) and one of the most-trusted personal finance voices in the UK. Funeral planning sits in a tricky overlap of grief, regulation, and high-pressure sales — so families understandably want to know what he actually thinks. This guide pulls together his published positions across MoneySavingExpert, ITV broadcasts, and his own writing, with notes on what has changed since the FCA brought pre-paid funeral plans under formal regulation in July 2022.
Position 1: Pre-paid funeral plans — sometimes useful, never urgent
On MSE, Martin Lewis treats pre-paid funeral plans as one option among several rather than the right answer. The case for: you lock in today's price for a future funeral, which protects against inflation. The case against: your money is tied up with the plan provider for potentially decades, you lose the flexibility to reroute it if circumstances change, and if you keep the equivalent money in a high-interest savings account it can grow to cover the same bill.
His practical filter: only buy from a firm that is currently FCA-authorised. The FCA register at register.fca.org.uk is the single source of truth. If a provider is not on it, do not pay them — regardless of how convincing their TV ad is.
Position 2: Over-50s life insurance — generally a bad deal
Martin Lewis is consistently critical of over-50s life insurance products that are marketed as "funeral cover". Three core objections:
- You can pay in more than the policy pays out if you live to a normal life expectancy. The premium is open-ended; the payout is capped.
- The cover does not adjust with inflation — a £3,000 payout in 2026 may be worth far less in 2046 against funeral costs that have risen at 5%+ per year.
- The marketing implies a guaranteed funeral but the product is just a cash sum your family receives. They still have to arrange and pay for the funeral.
His recommendation: if you are healthy and likely to live a normal lifespan, a savings account usually beats over-50s plans for the same purpose. If you have a specific reason (existing terminal diagnosis, no savings, no family who could raise the money) then compare carefully — sometimes these plans do make sense.
Position 3: Direct cremation — a low-cost route worth considering
Martin Lewis has discussed direct cremation as a sensible option for families who do not want a traditional funeral service. The headline saving is large:
- UK direct cremation starts from £895 (cheapest national provider on this site).
- Average UK traditional funeral cost: £4,141 (SunLife Cost of Dying 2026).
- Saving: typically £3,000–£3,500, which families can use for a memorial of their choosing — or save.
The trade-off Martin Lewis flags is that a direct cremation has no service at the crematorium and family typically aren't present. For some families that is fine — for others it isn't. His position: it's a real option families should weigh, not a cheap default.
See our what is direct cremation guide and the 10-provider direct cremation comparison.
What changed: Safe Hands and the FCA crackdown
Safe Hands Funeral Plans collapsed in March 2022 with around 46,000 customers and could not honour the plans it had sold. The collapse accelerated regulation that was already in motion: from 29 July 2022, pre-paid funeral plans became FCA-regulated for the first time.
Today the rules require any pre-paid funeral plan provider to be FCA-authorised, follow conduct of business rules, and contribute to a compensation scheme. Cold-calling for funeral plans is banned. The transformation from "buyer beware" to a normal regulated financial product is the biggest single change in this market in a generation.
Martin Lewis's position post-Safe Hands sharpened the FCA-only rule: even if a plan looks attractive, never buy from anyone you cannot find on the FCA register today.
The MSE direct-cremation comparison filter
On the at-need side (when you need a cremation arranged now, not pre-paid), MoneySavingExpert tends to direct readers to compare published prices and look at:
- What is included in the headline price (collection, ashes return, urn, paperwork)
- What costs extra (out-of-hours collection, hand-delivery of ashes, oversized coffin)
- Whether the firm is established with a real Trustpilot record
- Whether they cover your postcode without surcharge
That filter is the same one we apply in the CremationCompare 10-provider comparison — published price first, inclusions checklist second, regional coverage third.
What Martin Lewis would tell a family thinking about a funeral plan today
From his consistent positioning over the years, the practical filter looks like:
- Is the provider on the FCA register? If no, walk away.
- Do you have ~£3,000–£4,000 in cash that could go into a high-interest savings account instead? That gives you the same inflation buffer with full flexibility.
- Have you considered direct cremation (~£895–£1,595)? It usually makes the pre-paid-plan question irrelevant by being cheaper at point-of-need than most plans cost up front.
- Are you absolutely sure your family knows your wishes? A pre-paid plan documents them; savings alone does not.
Frequently asked questions
Does Martin Lewis recommend funeral plans?
Martin Lewis does not give a blanket recommendation either way. His position via MoneySavingExpert is that pre-paid funeral plans can make sense for some families — particularly to lock in a price against future inflation — but only with FCA-regulated providers, and only after considering whether saving the money in a high-interest account would do the same job with more flexibility.
What does Martin Lewis say about over-50s life insurance for funerals?
Martin Lewis is consistently critical of over-50s plans marketed as "funeral cover". His point is that many policies pay out less than you put in if you live a normal life expectancy, the cover is fixed at the start so inflation erodes its value, and the marketing often implies a guaranteed funeral when it is actually just a cash lump sum. He recommends comparing the alternatives — savings, prepaid plans, or no cover — before buying.
Are funeral plans FCA regulated?
Yes. Pre-paid funeral plans have been regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) since 29 July 2022. This was triggered partly by the collapse of Safe Hands Plans in 2022, which left tens of thousands of customers without the cover they had paid for. Today only FCA-authorised providers can sell pre-paid funeral plans in the UK, and the FCA register lets you check whether any provider is currently authorised.
What happened with Safe Hands and why does it matter?
Safe Hands Funeral Plans went into administration in March 2022 with around 46,000 customers and was unable to honour the plans it had sold. Regulation followed within months. The lesson Martin Lewis draws from this is to only buy plans from FCA-authorised firms, never from cold callers or doorstep sellers, and to verify the firm on the FCA register before paying.
Is direct cremation a Martin-Lewis-style cheaper alternative?
For families happy without a service at the crematorium, yes. Direct cremation in the UK starts at £895 from the cheapest national provider — versus £4,141 for an average traditional funeral (SunLife Cost of Dying 2026). The £3,000+ saving can be redirected to a meaningful memorial later, or simply kept. Martin Lewis has discussed direct cremation as a route worth considering for cost-conscious families.