Whether you're buying a new funeral plan or you already have one, find out how to make sure your provider is authorised by us.
A funeral plan provider must be authorised by us and have permission for the right activities. If it doesn't, you won’t have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service[1] if you want to complain.
You also won’t have access to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme[2] if the firm goes out of business. This means it's unlikely you'd get your money back.
You can find out more about funeral plans from MoneyHelper[3].
If you're buying a new funeral plan
You can use the FCA Firm Checker to make sure a funeral plan provider is authorised and has permission to offer you a plan.
- Search for the provider by name.
- Select the service you’re looking for (a 'Funeral plan').
- Check the provider is authorised.
- Under 'What this firm can do', check it has permission to:
- Enter into a funeral plan contract with you. This may involve offering you the contract, pricing it, confirming your cover, and sending your policy documents.
- Administer and process claims on an existing funeral plan.
If you see that the firm you're researching is listed as an appointed representative (AR) or introducer appointed representative (IAR), check with the principal listed on the Firm Checker to find out what services the AR or IAR can offer.
If you already have a funeral plan
Your provider must be authorised and have permission to:
- Enter into a funeral plan contract with you. This may involve offering you the contract, pricing it, confirming your cover, and sending your policy documents.
- Administer and process claims on an existing funeral plan.
You can check this by visiting our Firm Checker.
- Search for the firm by name.
- Select the service you have with the firm (a 'Funeral plan').
- Check 'What this firm can do'.
If your provider is authorised and has the right permissions, you don’t need to do anything more.
If you can't find your provider on Firm Checker, find out what you should do.
If you see that the firm you're dealing with is listed as an appointed representative (AR) or introducer appointed representative (IAR), check with the principal listed on the Firm Checker to find out what services the AR can offer.
Your funeral plan provider may be a different company to one that sold you the plan. For example, a funeral director who is an appointed representative[5] may have sold you a funeral plan from another firm (known as its 'principal[6]') even if the funeral director will ultimately deliver the plan.
You can find out who your provider is by looking at your paperwork or by contacting the firm that sold you the plan.
If you can't find your provider on Firm Checker
If your provider doesn't appear on Firm Checker, it will have either:
- Transferred its plans to an authorised provider, or
- Wound down its business.
If you don't know who your provider is, or you can't find the provider on Firm Checker, the National Association of Funeral Plan Providers (NAFPP) has a tracing service for funeral plans held by its members.