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A mischievous 80-year-old Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation reader sends in this latest flier that has popped into his letter box: the McCarthy and Stone funeral plan.
The company that pioneered retirement leasehold – with exit fees, subletting fees, atrocious re-sale values etc – is eager to ensure that your “loved-ones” aren’t left out of pocket when you die.
“Help relieve the financial stress on loved ones,” it pleads.
“By paying funeral costs in advance, you’ll be relieving your loved ones from having to pay for the funeral when the time comes – and that’s one less thing to worry about …
With a Guaranteed Funeral Plan from Dignity, you’ll only pay what the cost of a funeral would be if it were arranged today …”
Just like service charges – but rather more so than wages, pensions or, indeed, the rate of inflation – funeral costs are unaccountably rising. They are 6.89 per cent a year, the flier from McCarthy and Stone alleges.
The company does not accept that its own service charges are unaccountably rising. They are transparent, it claims, and some have gone down in recent years. Or, there have only been small increases mainly in line with inflation.
Imagine James Bond was Moving into a Mcarthy and Stone development?
Suppose for a moment he asked what he could expect from the funeral plan?
No doubt Mcarthy and Stone would say” I expect you to die Mr Bond”
Michael,
A Peverel friend has informed me that people are dying to take out these Guaranteed Funeral Plans?
Does the Funeral Plan allow for the extra cost of manhandling, if the lifts are broken down or battering down the apartment door, if the master key is not available.
Announcement from Mcarthy and Stone.
“BRING OUT YOUR DEAD, BRING OUT YOUR DEAD”
First we had retirement complexes for Later Living ,then along came Assisted Living, now we are getting Assisted Dying. Can they think of any more ways of making money.
How about Leasehold coffins with Ground Rent thrown in
MH
They could offer Freehold Coffins where they are returned back to the owner, after the leaseholder has finished with it, that may be their burning desire?
I understand instead of the “Gents and Ladies” Mcarthy and Stone toilets are to be identified as “His and Hearse”.
For you legal eagles who read your lease, you will note there is reference to the word “demise” so how appropriate that M & S take the word literally!!
If memory serves me right I am sure Peverel offered funeral plans through their magazine at one point.
Behind the humour (I plead Guilty as charged) there is a serious point that Mcarthy and Stone would do well to take on board.
Unlike in their previous incarnations,when so many schemes and charges were introduced to unsuspecting residents, now there is a very powerful and very formidable force watching and reacting to every move Mcarthy and Stone make..
Though recent refinancing has reduced debt, the business model is still very similar to previous ones that led to the financial problems experienced by Mcarthy and Stone and Peverel.
Like Peverel, Mcarthy and Stone depend in a very large part on their self appointment as managing agents to service loans. Like Peverel, the temptation to inflate charges is too great.
Post Peverel, more attention will be focused on Mcarthy and Stone.
Totally agree with ME. Behind the humour everyone needs to be very very careful and watchful of Mc&St.
If they really really cared about the residents of all the complexes they built they would have helped them years ago not waited until anwhere near as late as they did before breaking away from Peverel.
They are now easily able to take over 25/26 sites off Peverel quite simply because the contracts are up. They are not doing something “special” to help the residents. Don’t forget Mc&St are in serious financial trouble. If they were buiding and selling their flats in the hundreds, and making good money, do you think they would bother to to not let Pev renew their contracts. As I see it, they need to do anything to make money, hence taking on the management of these 25/26 sites from Pev. I am convinced they have no intention of helping people, just finding ways to make money out of what will be a totally diminshed worthless market. Their funeral plan is another example of “how can we get some more money out of them geriatrics”
Back in the day they were referred to as ” God’s Waiting Room” and now they have the leaftelts to suit that waiting room.
It is staggeringly insensitive to people on the home stretch and a real “step on a rake” moment for a company desperate to reinvigorate its image and service and get away from the scandalous and exploitative cross-selling by their managers.