Yes, you can buy a funeral plan for someone else, such as a parent or other family member, at the four providers read for this page: Dignity (including its Simplicity Cremations brand), Golden Charter, Pure Cremation and Co-op. Their terms differ on what authority you need, who can cancel and where refunds go, and this page sets them out provider by provider.
Reading this because a funeral has to be organised now? GOV.UK says a Funeral Expenses Payment may be available to someone on certain benefits who needs help paying for a funeral they are arranging. It will not usually cover all of the costs, and where the person who died had a pre-paid plan the payment is capped at £120, towards items outside the plan. Scotland has a Funeral Support Payment instead, which mygov.scot says usually will not meet the whole cost but should help with some of it.
Would you rather talk a parent's plan over first? Pop a few details into the short form, and a broker with FCA authorisation calls you back, free, to talk through funeral plans and funeral cover.
Who is the buyer and who is the plan for?
Every provider read separates two roles, though not always in the same words: the person the plan covers, and the buyer who applies and usually pays. The FCA's rulebook (regulation is covered here) draws the same line: a firm must act honestly, fairly and professionally "in accordance with the best interests of: (1) its customer; and (2) if different, the covered individual" (FPCOB 2.1.2R, in force since 29 July 2022).
| Provider (source read 20 October 2026) | Buyer and person covered |
|---|---|
| Dignity (plans page) | A plan can be taken out for a partner, a parent or any other adult aged 18 or over; it is arranged in their name and covers their funeral, "but you can be the one who pays for it" |
| Simplicity Cremations, a trading name of Dignity Funerals Limited (plans page) | You can arrange a plan on behalf of someone else; the person you are buying for must be over 18 |
| Golden Charter (terms, April 2026) | The covered individual "may be you or a family member or friend nominated by you"; the contract is with you "whether or not you purchased the funeral plan", or with any covered individual you nominate |
| Pure Cremation (terms page) | Separates the planholder (the person the cremation is for) from the customer, who applies; "someone can complete the application for another person" |
| Co-op Funeralcare (capture, 7 October 2026; Co-op's plans) | Authority to act for them is required, with power of attorney given as an example, and a plan for someone else cannot be bought online |
The tests are not the same: Co-op ties the purchase to legal authority, where the others describe a buyer arranging a plan for a named adult. Age rules for the person covered are on the funeral plan age limit page, and each provider's list prices on the cost page.
Does the person need to agree, sign or be told?
Each provider read puts involving the person covered differently.
- Dignity (its plan in full) says that, where you can, "it's worth talking it through with them first, so the wishes recorded on the plan are genuinely theirs". It adds that you will need their personal details, and that if a conversation is not possible it can still help you put a plan in place.
- Simplicity, Dignity's other brand, asks for their name, date of birth, address and contact details, and says it can be useful to tell them about the plan, though you do not have to.
- Golden Charter says that if you nominate a covered individual it may not be able to share information with you "without that person’s consent". It may also run identity and verification checks on anyone making payments on your behalf before the plan becomes effective.
The FCA's rules normally require a firm to send a nominated representative a document about the plan within 5 business days of the contract (FPCOB 9.3.6R). One exception in FPCOB 9.3.7R is where "the customer is not the covered individual and the customer has confirmed that no nominated representative is to be appointed".
Who can cancel or change a plan bought for someone else?
The FCA gives the right to cancel to the "customer": FPCOB 13.2.1R lets a customer cancel without giving any reason within the longer of 30 days or the other periods it sets out, running from the day the customer is told the contract has been concluded (FPCOB 13.2.6R). Providers add their own terms, which is where buyer and person covered can diverge.
- Golden Charter (terms, April 2026) defines "you" as the person named on the plan to whom it agrees to provide funeral services, adding that in some circumstances this can also include a covered individual; its cancellation and change clauses are written to "you". It will follow instructions from a person legally authorised to act for you or from a plan representative you appoint, and refunds are paid, where possible, "to the person who originally made the payment". Any additional costs arising because you nominate another person as the covered individual are not included in the plan.
- Pure Cremation says the person who buys can change the nominated representative at any time, or choose none. Its terms let "you" cancel at any time without giving a reason, where "you" means the customer, their personal representatives and anyone who takes over their legal rights and duties under the plan. A plan cannot be transferred to anyone else.
- Dignity allows a cooling-off period of 30 days from taking the plan out, with all payments refunded; ask who may use that period where the person covered is someone else.
Before you pay for a parent, ask the provider who may change the funeral director or the wishes, who may cancel, and who receives a refund. What each provider keeps if a plan is cancelled later is on cancelling a prepaid funeral plan.
The form on this page can pass those questions to a broker, free, whenever suits you.
What happens to the money if the person covered dies early, or the buyer does?
The Handbook speaks to this for instalment plans. Under FPCOB 13.2.2R, the death of the covered individual (other than as a result of an accident) within the moratorium period (a period FPCOB 7.2.1R caps at 24 months from the date the contract was entered into) is taken to be a cancellation, unless the customer and firm have agreed that sums outstanding may be paid and the plan redeemed (FPCOB 13.2.3R). In that case, the FCA's guidance says, instalments paid "must be returned without deduction to the customer or (where the customer is also the covered individual) to their estate" (FPCOB 7.2.4G).
Provider wording is not identical:
- Pure Cremation: if the planholder dies within the early period on an instalment plan, the death was not accidental and payments are up to date, the person arranging the funeral can pay the balance so the funeral goes ahead, or the "planholder’s estate can receive a refund of payments made".
- Co-op (capture, 7 October 2026): where the cost is spread over six or twelve months, whoever arranges the funeral must settle the balance for the plan to be delivered; otherwise the plan is cancelled and payments returned.
- Golden Charter: if "you" die within 12 months of the start date of an instalment plan and the death is not accidental, "all money you have paid will be refunded to your estate". Ask how that clause applies where the covered individual is someone other than the buyer.
- Dignity: "If you haven't finished paying your instalments when you die, we cover the outstanding balance."
If the buyer dies first, Pure Cremation's definition of "you" extends to the customer's personal representatives. Ask any provider what happens to instalments still due if the buyer dies.
What if the person cannot make their own decisions?
GOV.UK describes the routes by which one person can act for another. A lasting power of attorney (LPA) must be made by someone who is 18 or over and has mental capacity when they make it; it is legally binding only in England and Wales, and GOV.UK points to a different way of making a power of attorney for Scotland and for Northern Ireland. GOV.UK says a property and financial affairs LPA can be used as soon as it is registered, with the donor's permission.
A deputy is "authorised by the Court of Protection to make decisions on their behalf" and gets a court order setting out what they can and cannot do. GOV.UK says someone with an LPA or enduring power of attorney does not usually need a deputy, and that anyone applying should check first whether an attorney or deputy exists.
Before relying on an LPA or a court order to buy a plan, ask the Office of the Public Guardian (0300 456 0300, per GOV.UK) or a solicitor whether it covers that purchase, and ask the provider what evidence of authority it accepts.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy a funeral plan for my mum or dad?
At the providers read, yes; the first table gives each one's wording. How buying works step by step is on how to get a funeral plan, and the wider topic is in our funeral plans guide.
Can I buy one funeral plan for several family members?
Simplicity says a funeral plan cannot be taken out jointly and "can only cover one individual", so each person needs their own. Couples sharing a plan are covered on joint funeral plans.
Is buying life insurance on a parent the same thing?
No. A plan arranges and prepays a funeral, while life insurance on another person's life is a different product with its own rules, set out on taking out life insurance on someone else; funeral plan or life insurance compares the two.
If you would like a hand with any of this once you have read it, leaving your details in the form is free and commits you to nothing; the call back comes from an FCA-authorised broker.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Get help with funeral costs (Funeral Expenses Payment), read 20 October 2026. GOV.UK benefit page
- mygov.scot, Funeral Support Payment, read 20 October 2026. Scottish Government page
- GOV.UK, Make decisions on behalf of someone, read 20 October 2026. GOV.UK guidance
- GOV.UK, Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney (December 2024), read 20 October 2026. GOV.UK guidance
- GOV.UK, Deputies: make decisions for someone who lacks capacity (December 2024), read 20 October 2026. GOV.UK guidance
- FCA Handbook, FPCOB 2.1, 7.2, 9.3 and 13.2 (each in force since 29 July 2022), read 20 October 2026. FPCOB 13.2 on the FCA Handbook
- Golden Charter, Key Features and Terms and Conditions (April 2026), read 20 October 2026. Golden Charter terms (PDF)
- Pure Cremation, Funeral plan terms and conditions, read 20 October 2026. Pure Cremation terms page
- Dignity, Funeral plans, read 20 October 2026. Dignity plans page
- Simplicity Cremations (a Dignity Funerals Limited trading name), Funeral plans, read 20 October 2026. Simplicity plans page
- Co-op Funeralcare, Pre-paid Funeral Plans (archived 7 October 2026), read 20 October 2026. Wayback Machine capture