What is a funeral plan?

A funeral plan is an easy way to organise your funeral arrangements in advance, specify your wishes and pre-pay our funeral director’s services included in your plan. When the time comes, just one phone call to us is all that’s needed to activate your plan and get arrangements under way. Your wishes will be taken care of and carried out according to your plan, helping to relieve your family of the stress and worry they may otherwise have to face. Taking the step to arrange a funeral plan now is a simple, thoughtful way to plan ahead that can save your family worry and expense, and help make things easier at a difficult time.

Why pre-paying makes financial sense

The opportunity to pre-pay your funeral director services and fix our costs at today’s prices is one of the key benefits of planning ahead with a funeral plan. Plus, there’s the comfort of knowing that however much costs increase for these services, once your plan is paid for¹ there will be nothing more to pay for them – guaranteed.

An added worry could be that funeral costs need to be paid straight away, leaving your family to pick up the bill. They may not have immediate access to your savings and, as it can take some time to wind up an estate, they could have a long wait until other assets become available. Nobody wants their family to face money worries. With a funeral plan in place, you can be sure the cost of our funeral director’s services will be taken care of, so your family can focus on taking care of each other.

A range of payment options

Golden Charter’s funeral plans come with a range of payment options to suit you. We’ve made a list of the different options offered below, so you can decide which would be the best choice for you and your family:

• Single payment option which you pay in full
• 12 month payment option at no extra charge
• Instalment payment option (more information below)

You will receive a non-binding quote by our highly trained funeral arrangers.

All of the funeral plans we offer include an arrangement fee of £325 which is retained by Golden Charter and a funeral director fee of £180, which is retained by us to help cover the costs of setting up your plan.

The Golden Charter Trust

All payments are held within the Golden Charter Trust. With almost £1.2 billion under management the Trust is operated by a Board of Trustees,² completely independent of Golden Charter. Their role is to hold your payments and ensure that the funeral director services in your plan can be paid for at the time they are required – however far into the future that may be.³

If you choose the instalment payment option please be aware that:

• The total paid by you could be higher than the cost of your plan. The price of the plan and the total amount payable will depend on your age at the outset of the plan and on the instalment period chosen by you.

• The minimum term available for paying back your funeral plan is 2 years.

• The maximum term available for paying back your funeral plan customers choosing the Basic Plan is 10 years. All other funeral plan options have a maximum term of 15 years.

• For the instalment payment option you must be aged under 78 at the start date of your plan and pay the total cost by your 80th birthday.

• If you die after 12 months of paying for your plan and the payments are up to date, you will receive the full funeral benefits contained within the plan, even if you haven’t completed the agreed payment term.

• If you pass away within 12 months, a full refund of the premiums paid will be made to your estate, unless the estate opts to pay the outstanding balance, in which case the full funeral plan benefits will be delivered by the nominated funeral director.

• If you pass away within 12 months of an accidental death, our funeral director’s services included in the plan will be provided as per the plan purchased without any further payment required by the estate.

With the 12 month and instalment payment options, you need to pay a minimum deposit of £49 at the time of the sale. You can pay a larger deposit if you choose. The deposit can be paid by credit or debit card, bank transfer, cheque, banker’s draft or postal order. In exceptional circumstances cash may be accepted. For more information visit www.goldencharter.co.uk/faqs.

Act now, for one less thing to worry about

If you decide to take out a Golden Charter funeral plan with us, as well as the comfort of having a plan in place, you’ll have the peace of mind that comes with being able to help save your family from worry and expense in the future.

So why not take the next step today? We can answer any questions you may have and help you choose the plan and payment option that’s right for you. Please don’t hesitate to call us today on 01542 882 899 or fill in a contact form by clicking on this link: https://fsmclean.co.uk/contact-us/

Frank S. McLean & Son Limited is an appointed representative of Golden Charter Limited trading as Golden Charter Funeral Plans which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN:965279).

¹Or after 12 consecutive payments and as long as your payments remain up to date if you choose the instalment payment option.

² Confirmed by Golden Charter Trust’s audited accounts at 31 March 2024.

³ For more information on how your payments protect your payments, please visit goldencharter.co.uk/faqs