A Dignity funeral plan is a pre-paid plan from Dignity Funerals Limited. Its plans page (read 20 October 2026) lists four packages, from Unattended at £1,899 to Signature at £4,967, plus a bespoke option. If you are arranging a funeral now and need help with the cost, GOV.UK's Funeral Expenses Payment may help if you get certain benefits, and in Scotland you can apply for a Funeral Support Payment instead.

If talking it through would help you weigh a Dignity plan against other plans or funeral cover, a few minutes on our short form gets you a free call back from a broker authorised by the FCA.

How does a Dignity funeral plan work?

According to Dignity's plans page, you choose a plan online, over the phone or with your local funeral director, record the wishes that matter to you, and pay in full or by instalments, with the money going into an independent trust. When the time comes, your family makes one phone call to your nominated funeral director, who arranges "everything your plan covers", and "there is nothing more to pay for those services, however much funeral costs have risen in the meantime".

The same page is candid that a plan is not the right choice for everyone: savings and life insurance can help with the cost, but "neither guarantees to cover a funeral, and neither will arrange one". If what you want is a cash sum for your family to use as they like, funeral cover is the other route, and the two are different products.

You can buy a plan for someone else, whether a partner, a parent or any other adult (18 or over), arranged in their name while you pay. How buying works step by step is on our page on getting a funeral plan, and how age affects the options is on our funeral plan age limit page.

What do the Dignity plans include?

The plans page names four packages. Prices are Dignity's own list prices on the date read, not what a funeral plan costs in general (our cost page explains why no such figure exists).

Plan and list priceCeremonyVehiclesOther items listed
Unattended, £1,899None: a direct cremation, with no mourners at the crematoriumNone listedCremation; ashes hand-delivered in a simple container
Essence, £3,850A family member leadsHearse (from the list for every attended plan, below)Burial or cremation
Grace, £4,409A minister or officiant leadsHearse, plus one limousine for close familyBurial or cremation
Signature, £4,967A minister or officiant leadsHearse, plus two limousinesBurial or cremation; embalming

Under the heading "every attended funeral plan includes", the page lists collection and care of the person who has died, dressing in personal clothes "with a coffin and hearse", a funeral director's support, a ceremony with a choice of date, time and location, viewing in a private chapel by appointment, and third-party fees such as the cremation or interment fee, covered as set out in the plan. A bespoke plan is offered too, built around your own choices, from a horse-drawn carriage to a personalised coffin. How cremation and burial plans differ in general is in our page on cremation and burial plans.

What does the price fix, and what is left to your family?

Dignity says paying now "fixes the price of the essentials in your plan, protecting you against future price rises". The wording matters: it fixes the essentials, not every cost of a funeral. Two limits show on the page itself:

  • Extras are paid for separately: you can add a financial contribution towards things such as flowers, stationery, live music or an alternative hearse.
  • Third-party fees are covered only on the terms of your plan, so ask Dignity to show you in writing which fees your plan pays and what happens if they rise.

The page adds that if you die abroad your family will need to arrange repatriation, "which is usually covered by travel insurance", after which the plan "takes over as normal".

For a funeral someone is arranging now, GOV.UK says the payment usually will not meet the whole cost of a funeral, and that where the person who died had a pre-paid plan you can only get up to £120 to help with items the plan does not cover. A plan price is also a different thing from the cost of a funeral on the day, which our page on average funeral costs sets out.

How do you pay for a Dignity plan, and what if you die before the last instalment?

Dignity says you can pay in full or spread the cost over up to five years, "as long as the payments are complete by your 85th birthday". It adds that there are "no additional administration fees for paying in instalments, so spreading the cost doesn't make your plan more expensive", and that it will set out what you would pay each month before you commit. Ask for that monthly figure and the total in writing, whichever route you take.

On a death before the last instalment, the same answer says "we cover the outstanding balance", so your family has nothing more to pay for the services in the plan. Read that alongside your own plan documents, since the web page is a summary.

Paying monthly for a plan is not the only way to spread the cost of a funeral; funeral insurance does it differently. To have both explained against your age and budget, leave your details in the enquiry form and a broker with FCA authorisation will ring you.

Can you change or cancel a Dignity plan?

Dignity says your wishes can change and that you can call, email or write to update the plan. If you decide it is not for you, there is a 30-day cooling-off period from the date you take it out, with everything you have paid refunded. After those 30 days you can still cancel, but "a £249 cancellation fee is deducted and the balance refunded to you".

Moving a plan to another provider is a separate question, answered on our page on transferring a plan, and the cancellation rules across providers are on our page on cancelling a pre-paid plan.

Is Dignity authorised, and how is the money in a plan protected?

Dignity's plans page and footer state that Dignity Funerals Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA, firm reference number 967130, "in relation to funeral plan activities", and that buying a funeral without a plan falls outside FCA regulation. That is the firm's own statement; the FCA's Firm Checker is where to confirm it, and the FCA describes the check like this:

  1. Open the FCA Firm Checker and search for the provider by name.
  2. Select the service you want, which is "Funeral plan".
  3. Under "What this firm can do", look for permission to enter into a funeral plan contract with you and to administer and process claims on an existing plan.

The FCA also notes that the company that provides your plan may not be the one that sold it to you, so check the company named in your paperwork. More is on our page on FCA regulation of funeral plans.

FCA rules let a provider back its plans with life insurance or with a trust. Dignity uses a trust: plan money goes into The UK Funerals (2022) Trust, "ring-fenced, overseen by trustees" and not available to run the business, and Dignity says it adds to the trust where it needs topping up to stay fully funded. An independent actuary assesses each trust every year, and the FCA requires the reports to be published. The solvency page lists seven trusts in all, The UK Funerals (2022) Trust and six others, each assessed at 31 December 2025 by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP; your plan documents say which one holds your payments.

The plans page also carries an "FSCS protected up to £85,000" badge. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme's own page sets the conditions: the provider must be regulated by the FCA and have gone out of business on or after 29 July 2022, and you then "may be" protected, "up to £85,000 per eligible person, per firm". How the FCA's backing rules work, and how the scheme replaces a plan or pays compensation, is on our funeral plan cost page.

What do customers say about Dignity, and how do you complain?

Dignity's plans page links to its Trustpilot reviews. A review site's score and its recent reviews change over time, so read the current page and the date on each review rather than relying on a figure quoted elsewhere, including here.

Dignity's complaints page sets out a process for funeral plans: it says it will acknowledge a complaint "within 5 working days", aims to reach a conclusion within four weeks, and that you may refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you are not happy with its final response or 8 weeks have passed. The FCA says a provider that is not authorised cannot be taken to the Ombudsman, which is why the authorisation check above matters.

Frequently asked questions

Are Dignity funeral plans safe, and are they in trouble?

This page offers no verdict. Dignity states that it is FCA-authorised, that plan money is held in an independent trust, and that plans are FSCS-covered; the FCA Firm Checker, your plan documents and Dignity's published solvency reports are where to check each point for yourself.

Is there a Dignity discount code or gift card?

The plans page shows list prices and says instalments carry no extra charge. Whether any offer, code or gift card applies to your plan is for Dignity to confirm, so ask when you phone and have the answer in writing before you pay.

What are the Dignity Diamond, Ruby and Amber plans?

Dignity's current plans page lists Unattended, Essence, Grace and Signature. If your documents name Diamond, Ruby or Amber, ask Dignity what that plan includes and whether it differs from the current packages.

Should you later want Dignity's packages weighed against other providers' plans or over-50s cover, send your details through the form here and an FCA-authorised broker will ring to talk it over, free of charge.

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