Yes, pre-paid funeral plans are regulated by the FCA. Since 29 July 2022 a provider has needed FCA authorisation, and for most firms selling or carrying out a plan without it is a criminal offence. What matters is whether the firm named in your paperwork is on the FCA's register with permission for funeral plans, and how your money is protected.
Arranging a funeral now? GOV.UK says you could get a Funeral Expenses Payment if you receive certain benefits and need help paying for a funeral you are arranging. It will not usually cover the whole cost, and where the person who died had a pre-paid plan it is only up to £120, for items the plan leaves out; Scotland has a Funeral Support Payment instead. A funeral can also be paid for from the person's estate, and GOV.UK suggests checking whether they left a plan or life insurance.
Would you rather talk it over with a person? Leave a few details in the quote form and a broker with FCA authorisation phones you back, at no charge, to discuss funeral plans and funeral cover.
What changed on 29 July 2022?
Two steps brought plan providers under FCA regulation. The Treasury's Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Order 2021 (SI 2021/90, made on 27 January 2021) made "carrying out a funeral plan contract as provider" a specified kind of regulated activity, and removed article 60 of the 2001 Order, which had dealt with plans covered by insurance or trust arrangements. Most of the Order took effect eighteen calendar months after an initial commencement day.
The FCA's policy statement PS21/8 (5 July 2021) then set out its final rules and said all firms would need to be authorised by 29 July 2022 to carry on funeral plan business. Two details matter to a reader:
- Existing plans count. PS21/8 says authorisation applies to firms that only want to carry out pre-existing plans, and describes it as a criminal offence to carry out existing contracts without authorisation beyond the date. A plan bought before July 2022 must now be carried out by an authorised provider.
- Sellers are covered too. The FCA treats providers as firms that enter into and administer plan contracts, and intermediaries (funeral directors, will writers, lead generators) as firms that sell plans for providers. Either must be directly authorised or be an appointed representative of a principal firm.
The Financial Ombudsman Service's page on these complaints adds that it can look at events before that date only if the provider was then a member of the Funeral Planning Authority and the same complaint had not already gone to that body.
How do you check a provider on the FCA register?
The FCA's page for consumers (updated 6 March 2026) says a provider must be authorised and have permission for the right activities. You check this on its Firm Checker: search for the provider by name, choose the "Funeral plan" service, and read "What this firm can do". There should be permission to enter into a funeral plan contract with you, and to administer and process claims on an existing plan.
Three things trip people up.
- The seller may not be the provider. A funeral director can sell a plan issued by another company. If the Checker lists the firm as an appointed representative (AR) or introducer appointed representative (IAR), ask the principal it names what the AR or IAR can offer.
- Brand names are not firm names. Search for the company on your documents. Golden Charter's April 2026 terms, for example, state that Golden Charter Limited, trading as Golden Charter Funeral Plans, is authorised and regulated by the FCA. A firm's own statement is a prompt to look, not a substitute. For the same check on a Dignity plan, see our Dignity funeral plan page; for Co-op, ask the Checker about the company named in your Co-op documents.
- A provider that is missing. A provider that does not appear will have either transferred its plans to an authorised provider or wound down, according to the same FCA page, and the FSCS adds that firms not on the register must not sell or carry out funeral plans in the UK. If you cannot work out who holds your plan, the National Association of Funeral Plan Providers runs a tracing service for plans held by its members.
The register changes, so the Checker is the current answer, for any provider.
Where does the FCA require plan money to be held?
The FCA's handbook (FPCOB 3.1, in force since 29 July 2022) states the aim as ensuring plan contracts are "underpinned by robust trust or insurance arrangements" so that funerals can be provided in line with the contract. Under FPCOB 3.1.6R each plan must be backed in one of two ways, as soon as reasonably practicable after the provider receives money. The rules differ for each route:
| Insurance route | Trust route | |
|---|---|---|
| What backs the plan | A life insurance contract from an authorised insurer on the covered person, sufficient to provide the agreed funeral | Enough of what you pay to provide the agreed funeral, held on trust |
| Key conditions in the rules | The contract must not end if the provider fails; payments are limited to delivering the funeral, refunds, and payments on the provider's failure | Trust assets kept apart from the provider's own; more than half of the trustees unconnected with the provider; an independent fund manager; annual accounts audited |
| If the provider fails | Payment to the customer or covered person, or to next of kin on death, or as the FSCS determines | Trustees pay a reasonable estimate of the cost of a replacement plan, or a proportional share if assets fall short, unless arrangements to secure continuity have been put in place |
A plan's own documents say which route it uses; providers' wording is set out on the comparison page.
What can the Ombudsman and the FSCS do?
The Financial Ombudsman Service's page (updated 16 September 2026) says you can complain to it about pre-paid funeral plans for events after 29 July 2022 involving FCA-regulated businesses. It looks at most complaints about the sale, administration, redemption and delivery of a plan. Complain to the firm first; if it has not sent a final response within eight weeks, or you are unhappy with it, you can go to the Ombudsman. The service is free, though complaints about a funeral director's conduct may fall outside it.
The FSCS handles failure: if an FCA-regulated provider went out of business on or after 29 July 2022, its page says you "may be FSCS protected", including for plans bought earlier, and how a replacement plan or compensation works is set out in what happens if a funeral plan company goes bust.
The FCA's consumer page makes the converse point: with a provider that is not authorised, you would have no access to the Ombudsman or to the FSCS.
Holding a plan's paperwork and unsure what to ask? A call-back through the enquiry form puts you in touch with an authorised broker, free, who can go through funeral plan options with you.
What happened with Safe Hands?
Safe Hands Plans Limited was a funeral plan provider that applied to the FCA for authorisation and then withdrew. The FCA said on 15 February 2022 that the firm would not be taking new customers, and that it did not yet regulate funeral plan providers. In a statement of 11 March 2025 (updated 27 March 2025) it said it had warned applicants including Safe Hands that they were unlikely to meet its requirements, that the firm stopped trading in February 2022, and that it worked with Dignity and Co-op to help customers find new plans at a discounted cost.
The statement responded to the Complaints Commissioner's final report. The FCA wrote that it had "the utmost sympathy for the people who have lost money because of Safe Hands", did not agree with the Commissioner's finding that it had not identified significant risks, and had limited powers over plan providers before July 2022. It also referred to a Serious Fraud Office investigation; on 22 January 2026 the SFO announced that it had charged two people in that investigation.
What does the register leave for you to ask?
Authorisation tells you the firm is regulated, not whether a plan suits you. How a plan works is on what a prepaid funeral plan is. Worth asking before you pay: which company is the provider, as opposed to the seller; whether the plan sits on the trust or the insurance route, and who the trustees or insurer are; what happens to your payments if you stop or cancel; and which complaints route applies. Prices are covered on the funeral plan cost page. How buying works in practice is on how to get a funeral plan, and who can arrange one for a parent is on buying a plan for someone else. More is in our funeral plans guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does regulation cover a plan I bought before July 2022?
Yes. Firms carrying out existing plans need authorisation too, and FSCS protection can include plans bought before 29 July 2022, if the provider is FCA-regulated and failed on or after that date.
What if my provider is not on the register?
The FCA says it will have transferred its plans to an authorised provider or wound down. Search for the company named in your paperwork rather than a brand, then try the National Association of Funeral Plan Providers' tracing service.
Is my money protected if a provider fails?
Plans must be backed by insurance or a trust, and the FSCS says you may be protected up to £85,000 per eligible person, per firm, if an FCA-regulated provider failed on or after 29 July 2022. Whether that applies depends on the provider's status and the date of failure.
Once you have the register answer you wanted, the enquiry form is the way to speak to a broker about funeral plans or funeral cover; it is free and takes a few minutes.
Sources
- legislation.gov.uk, The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Order 2021 (SI 2021/90, made 27 January 2021), read 20 October 2026. legislation.gov.uk
- FCA, PS21/8: Regulation of funeral plans (5 July 2021), read 20 October 2026. FCA policy statement page; PDF
- FCA, Regulating the funeral plans sector (last updated 11 October 2024), read 20 October 2026. FCA page
- FCA, Funeral plans: check your provider is authorised (last updated 6 March 2026), read 20 October 2026. FCA consumer page
- FCA Handbook, FPCOB 3.1 (last updated 29 July 2022), read 20 October 2026. FPCOB 3.1
- FSCS, Funeral plans protection, read 20 October 2026. FSCS page
- Financial Ombudsman Service, Complaints about pre-paid funeral plans (last updated 16 September 2026), read 20 October 2026. Ombudsman page
- FCA, Safe Hands Plans withdraws application for authorisation (15 February 2022), and FCA responds to final report into Safe Hands complaints (11 March 2025, updated 27 March 2025), read 20 October 2026. 2022 news story; 2025 statement
- Serious Fraud Office, SFO charges two in Safe Hands Plans investigation (22 January 2026), read 20 October 2026. GOV.UK press release
- Golden Charter, Key Features and Terms and Conditions (April 2026), read 20 October 2026. Golden Charter terms (PDF)
- GOV.UK, Funeral Expenses Payment, read 20 October 2026. GOV.UK benefit page; Arrange the funeral (December 2024), GOV.UK guidance