Funerals
Funeral plans: the FCA checks and the price of paying monthly
A prepaid funeral plan buys a funeral at today’s price. Type the single price and the instalment offer from a quote to see the difference.
Independent site, not an insurer, broker or government service: benefit claims are made only on GOV.UK.
Funeral plan: one payment or instalments
Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours
Paid in total by instalments
£4,500
| Extra over the single price | £300 |
| Extra in percent | 7.1% |
| State help with a plan in place | up to £120 |
Uses only the prices you type. Ask the provider what happens if instalments stop before the end.
A prepaid funeral plan is a contract to provide a funeral in the future, paid for now, in one go or by instalments. Since 29 July 2022 the Financial Conduct Authority regulates the providers. A provider must be authorised by the FCA and hold the right permissions; if it is not, the buyer has no access to the Financial Ombudsman Service for complaints and no protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the firm fails, so getting the money back is unlikely. The FCA’s Firm Checker shows whether a provider is authorised. The plan money is held in a trust or backed by a whole of life insurance policy, under the FCA’s rules. Paying monthly usually costs more: on a single price of £4,200, 36 instalments of £125 add up to £4,500, or £300 more. This site shows no plan prices; the calculator uses only the figures from your own quote.
Rates read and sums checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the figures are worked out
What instalments add, for different lengths
The table keeps a single price of £4,200 and an instalment of £125, and changes only the number of payments. A real offer sets both the instalment and the number together; type yours into the calculator. A negative extra means the instalments add up to less than the single price.
| Instalments | Total paid | Extra over the single price | Extra in percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 months | £1,500 | -£2,700 | 0.00% |
| 24 months | £3,000 | -£1,200 | 0.00% |
| 36 months | £4,500 | £300 | 7.1% |
| 60 months | £7,500 | £3,300 | 79% |
| 120 months | £15,000 | £10,800 | 257% |
What changed with FCA regulation
The FCA began regulating prepaid funeral plans on 29 July 2022. Its policy statement PS21/15 set rules on how providers hold the money through trust and insurance arrangements, on what happens if a provider fails, and on access to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Before that date, plans were not regulated and customers had no access to the Ombudsman or to the compensation scheme. The FCA’s consumer page explains how to check a provider and what to do if yours no longer appears.
Checking a provider
Search the provider’s name on the FCA register, select the funeral plan service, and look under what the firm can do for two permissions: entering into a funeral plan contract, and administering claims on an existing plan. Where the firm that sold the plan is an appointed representative, the provider is its principal, and that is the firm to look up.
Reading the plan
Plans differ in what they include. Check whether the price covers the third-party costs, such as the cremation or burial fee and the doctor’s certificate, or only the funeral director’s services; whether a burial plot is included; what happens if instalments stop before the end; whether the plan can be cancelled and what is refunded; and whether the funeral director can be changed or the plan moved if you move house. The plan only fixes the services it lists. For people on certain benefits, the Funeral Expenses Payment can help with costs a plan does not cover, within a lower limit, as shown on GOV.UK.
Who the plan is with
A funeral plan may be sold by one firm and provided by another, and delivered by a funeral director who is neither. The FCA points out that a funeral director who is an appointed representative may sell a plan from its principal, even if it will carry out the funeral. Your paperwork names the provider; if it does not, the firm that sold the plan can tell you.