FAQs

Our plans are available to all UK residents, regardless of age or state of health. If you choose to pay by 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. There are no maximum or minimum age limits if choosing to pay by single payment or by 12 monthly payments.

We’ll send you a plan documents folder with all the information about your plan, as well as a membership card. If you have opted to have a nominated representative for your plan, they will receive a letter shortly after you have purchased your funeral plan. This will advise that you have put a plan in place and provide details of your appointed funeral director.

You will also receive a customer statement which will be sent to you every three years using your preferred method of contact.

If your personal or financial circumstances change, please get in touch if you wish to update us on this.

If you’re having trouble paying for your plan, please call us. We’re here to help. You can also get free, impartial advice from Moneyhelper. Moneyhelper is provided by the Money and Pensions Service and is backed by the Government.

If you cancel within 30 days we will refund the payment you have made. For details of cancellation terms after 30 days of receiving our written acceptance, please see our separate Key Features and Terms and Conditions document.

For all payment methods, if you cancel within 30 days of receiving our written acceptance we will refund the payment you have made.

If you choose to make a single payment or pay by 12 monthly payments and you cancel 30 days after receiving our written acceptance, you will receive a refund of payments made less our arrangement fee of £325.

If you are paying by the instalment payment option and cancel 30 days after receiving our written acceptance, but before you have made 12 payments, you will receive a refund of all payments made. If you cancel after you have made 12 payments, you will receive a refund of all payments less our arrangement fee of £325.

Yes, if you have a preferred funeral director please let us know when you call or at step three of the online purchase journey. If it isn’t possible to appoint your plan to your preferred funeral director, we’ll let you know so we can work with you to choose an alternative. If you don’t have any preference we’ll simply appoint a funeral director near to you from our network of local, independently owned funeral directors.

You can tell us about any special wishes for your funeral when you apply. If these involve extra costs, you may be able to add these on to the total cost of your plan by contacting us at 0808 169 4534. Our plans are flexible meaning, you will be able to update your wishes after you take out your plan.

Please let us know you are moving so we can update our records. You will have the option to move your plan to a different funeral director, if required, and this may incur additional costs which would be discussed at the time of the request.

Your plan documents folder contains the contact details for your funeral director. When the time comes your family contacts the funeral director and quotes your plan number. The funeral director will then take care of your funeral arrangements.

If you intend to travel overseas, we recommend that your travel or medical insurance policy includes cover for repatriation costs back to mainland UK. Your funeral plan covers the cost of transportation of the deceased from the relevant UK airport or port to the funeral director’s premises.

This will depend on the type of payment method you have chosen. Please refer to our separate Key Features and Terms and Conditions document for more information.

You can transfer the benefit of your funeral plan to a nominated family member or friend who dies before you, once the total cost of the plan has been paid. Any change of arrangements following such a transfer (for example, a change of address for the nominated family member or friend leading to increased transportation costs) may mean that we have to appoint a different funeral director. It may also mean that you need to pay additional sums. This is something that we would agree with you at the time.

Yes, you will be appointed as the plan holder’s representative, and we’ll arrange for all correspondence to be sent to you.

A plan representative is someone who can take out a plan on the plan holder’s behalf. They will have the authority to make changes to the plan and will receive the plan documents rather than the plan holder. A nominated representative is someone who the plan holder would like to make aware that they have taken out a plan. A nominated representative has no authority to make changes to the plan.

In the unfortunate event of your loved one’s passing, there are different steps we recommend you take based on the specific circumstances. For detailed guidance, please consult our What to do When Someone Dies resource.

If the deceased had purchased a pre-paid funeral plan with Golden Charter then one phone call to the funeral director will activate the plan. Following this, the funeral director will carry out your loved one’s wishes. Golden Charter offers a range of funeral plans with different services depending on the needs of the plan holder. If you’re unsure which plan was purchased and the details of what is included in this plan, the appointed funeral director will be able to share this information and will also be on hand to guide you through this process.

All of our funeral plans include a £325 arrangement fee which is retained by us as a contribution for setting up the plan.

Your money will be transferred and held in the Golden Charter Trust (“The Trust”) after we deduct our arrangement fee. The trust is completely independent of Golden Charter and all customer money held in it is ring-fenced for future funerals.

Golden Charter is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (‘the FCA’) as a provider of funeral plans.

On 29 July 2022, the FCA took on regulation of the funeral planning market, ensuring customers are treated fairly and bringing them valuable new protections. This includes access to the Financial Ombudsman Scheme and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for Golden Charter customers.

The Trust is a distinct legal entity from Golden Charter and the Trust’s assets are held entirely separately from the assets of Golden Charter. Therefore, the money you paid for your funeral plan is ‘ring fenced’ over the term of your plan. The monies paid by all customers are invested by the Trust until needed to pay the funeral director who performs the funeral service of maturing plans.

A Golden Charter funeral plan is not an investment product that fluctuates in value or on which you earn interest. When you buy a plan, you receive a guarantee of the funeral director services contained within the plan being provided at the time they are required, however far into the future that may be. The overall value of the Trust Fund can rise or fall but this does not impact on the guarantee of the funeral director’s services under your plan, or on your cancellation rights.

If Golden Charter ceased trading, your money would continue to be held in the Trust until the time of need. You would also retain the right to cancel your plan and receive a refund subject to the terms and conditions of your plan. The Trust would continue as long as is necessary to make payments to funeral directors for all plans as they mature.

Although it’s unlikely, if the Golden Charter Trust ceased to exist, your payments would be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This means you may be entitled to compensation subject to FSCS limits (currently £85,000 per individual plan holder with some exceptions) or the FSCS may instead arrange for continuity of your plan through another authorised funeral plan provider as an alternative to compensation. Please visit the FSCS website www.fscs.org.uk for further information

If the funeral director can’t perform your funeral we will select another funeral director to carry out your funeral arrangements as detailed in your plan.

Over 50s insurance policies usually pay out a lump sum on death which can be used towards a funeral. But in most cases, as the lump sum is fixed at the outset of the plan, any future increase in funeral prices could mean the payment won’t cover the cost of the funeral. A Golden Charter funeral plan will pay for the funeral director’s services covered by your plan at the time they are required, no matter what happens to prices in the future.

The Funeral Benefit Option is a free, optional feature that you can add to your Guaranteed Over 50 Plan. If you opt in, this means your life insurance payout will go directly to a Funeral Director, and they will make a contribution towards the cost of your funeral. Unlike pre-paid plans, there’s no protection against rising or fluctuations in fees. Depending on how long you live, or the type of cover you invested in, you may also end up paying in more than your family get back.