Taking care of the money you have paid for your funeral plan

If you buy a funeral plan from Peace Funerals, you are setting money aside to help pay for your (or a loved one’s) funeral at the time of need. So it is really important to know that your money is safe and will be available when required. We explain here what happens to it.

Your plan money is paid into a separate Trust fund – the Peace Ethical Trust (PET) – which has been created to take care of your funds until they are needed to pay for your funeral. This is looked after by a group of Trustees, the majority of whom are independent of Peace Funerals. Between them, the Trustees have extensive experience, skills and knowledge about funeral plans and finances, and all of them have been trustees of a funeral plan trust for a number of years.

The Trustees monitor the Trust’s assets and liabilities and also take investment advice from a regulated independent financial adviser. They appoint an actuary to report on PET’s financial position each year. This report is called a Solvency Assessment Report and the most recent version of it is published here.

How Regulation protects you

Since 29th July 2022, the way that the sale of funeral plans has been governed has changed significantly. It is now a requirement for funeral plan providers to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Peace Burials Limited (trading as Peace Funerals) applied to be authorised and was successful. The firm’s reference number FRN is: 961573.

FCA regulation is designed to give you extra safeguards if you are considering buying a funeral plan for yourself or for a loved one. Plan customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). For further information, refer to the FCA’s website.

How a Peace Funerals funeral plan works

Each Peace Funerals plan is made up of two components: funeral directors costs, and disbursements (third party costs).

Funeral directors costs are the cost of those items which are provided by the funeral director and include such things as the funeral director’s fee, the cost of the coffin, the cost of providing a traditional hearse and limousines, viewing, etc. Once you have paid for these items in your funeral plan, you are guaranteed that there will be nothing further to be paid for these items at the time that the funeral takes place.

Disbursements are treated a bit differently. These are the charges payable for services provided by third parties. They include such things as crematorium and cemetery fees, doctors fees, celebrant fees, flower costs, catering costs, and the cost of specialist forms for transport, such as a motorcycle, or horse-drawn, hearse. These fees are not under the control of Peace Funerals and so are NOT guaranteed to be covered in full in your funeral plan. However, in your plan there will be a contribution to these disbursement costs and whatever amount you set aside will increase in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). It is unlikely that it will ever cover the full amount of the disbursement costs but it should cover a significant part of them. The balance will need to be paid by the person arranging your funeral.

In all Peace Funerals plans, there is an additional cost of a £250 admin fee. This is the cost of providing you your plan from the point that it is taken out until your funeral takes place.

The Terms and Conditions of Peace Funerals funeral plans

Please follow the link to see a copy of our Terms and Conditions.

The next step

If you think that you might be interested in taking out a funeral plan, why not get in touch with us. We can help you to explore what your needs are and whether we can offer you a plan that meets those needs. We don’t run a call centre or use any pressurised selling techniques. Anyone that you speak to will be knowledgeable about funerals.

Deciding to buy a funeral plan is a big decision and we encourage everyone to take time to think carefully before making any commitment. But we also know a lot of people have valued the peace of mind it gives them when they have got their funeral arrangements all sorted out.

Regarding practicalities, we don’t conduct any health or medical checks on prospective customers. But we will be interested in learning what makes you want to buy a funeral plan and how it is right for addressing your needs. Plans can either be purchased outright in a single payment or by instalments over up to 12 months.