1. Definitions
To clarify the meaning we intend when using certain words in this document, we have explained them for you here:
- ‘Beneficiary’ - means the person who will receive the benefits of this plan when they die. If you have not chosen anybody else to receive the benefits of this plan, then YOU are the beneficiary. If you do nominate someone else, you are still responsible for paying.
- 'Benefits’ - When we use the term ‘benefits’ we mean everything outlined in section 5.
- ‘FSCS’ - means the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
- ‘Great Britain’ - for the purpose of this agreement is mainland England, Wales and Scotland and does not include any islands that are not connected by a bridge or the highlands of Scotland. We can still provide a plan if you live on any of the islands not connected by a bridge or the highlands of Scotland, however, ferry and transport costs will be required to be paid by the representative at the time of need.
- ‘Plan’ - Your ‘plan’ / ‘funeral plan’ is an agreement between you and us comprising this document and your plan summary. Your plan summary will confirm the details provided at application and the payment schedule agreed. This will be sent to you with the rest of your plan documents once your order is received.
- ‘Representative’ - is the person who arranges the funeral for the beneficiary.
- ‘We’ - ‘We’ / ‘us’ / ‘our’ refer to Celebration of Life Planning Ltd who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and entered on the Financial Services Register under reference 958912. Company no. 12631930, registered office at Enterprise House, Ocean Way, SOUTHAMPTON, SO14 3XB. We are the company that sets up and manages your funeral plan for you. We also provide the benefits of this plan detailed in section 5, though only funeral plan related activities are regulated and does not include funeral services outlined in section 5. From time to time we use other companies within our business group or trusted supply partners to complete parts of our service.
- ‘You’ - When we say ‘you’ / ‘your’ / ‘I’ / ‘my’ we mean the person who is paying for the plan.
2. Who can buy a plan?
You must be a UK resident and over 18.
3. Appointment as agent
You irrevocably appoint us, for the duration of the funeral plan contract, as agent for the purposes of asserting any right or interest you have in the relevant trust whereby your monies are held, currently The Celebration of Life Trust as detailed in section 20. Such appointment being without prejudice to the possibility of you asserting your rights or interests yourself.
4. Beneficiary
You are the beneficiary unless you nominate someone else. Only one person is entitled to receive the benefits of this plan. You can nominate your spouse or civil partner to be the beneficiary any time as long it does not violate any restrictions stated in section 10. Once the plan is paid in full, you can change the beneficiary to anyone over the age of 18 at any time by contacting us, even if that person has recently died. If you have changed the beneficiary from one person to another and we have previously informed the first person that they were to receive the benefits of this plan, then we will inform them of the change and that they are no longer a beneficiary. If you die before your nominated beneficiary and payments towards your plan are still due, then we will cancel your plan and any refund will be paid to your estate. If your plan is fully paid for and you die before your nominated beneficiary, then we will transfer the plan into their name and notify them. If they subsequently decide to cancel, then any refund as stated in sections 26 to 28 will go to them.
5. What is included in my plan?
- 24/7 urgent care
- Collection (including an urgent collection 24/7 if required) within Great Britain
- A simple coffin
- Care of deceased at our mortuary facilities
- The removal of devices such as a pacemaker
- Suitable transport to the crematorium
- All fees for an unattended cremation at a time and date we choose at one of our trusted partner crematoriums chosen by us
- Crematorium and doctors’ fees (where required)
- Return of ashes within Great Britain or scattering in the crematorium’s garden of remembrance
6. What is not included in my plan?
A direct cremation means there is no service at the crematorium, so there are certain things that are never included in this style of service.
This plan does not include the following:
- The use of a hearse or limousine
- Flowers, tributes or memorials
- Collection from outside of Mainland Great Britain
- A ceremony at the crematorium
- Choice of crematorium or cremation time
- Mourners attending the committal
7. What happens to my money?
The total cost of the plan is £1,450. From this, £850 is paid into the Celebration of Life Trust as detailed in sections 20 and 21 to provide the benefits detailed in section 5 when you die. £600 is retained by Celebration of Life Planning Ltd to cover the lifetime cost of the plan, marketing and company running costs.
8. How do I pay for my plan?
You can pay for your plan in one of two ways:
- In full
- By monthly instalments spread up to 5 years
If you choose to pay by monthly instalment, you will pay an extra 4.8% of the total cost of the plan each year, charged monthly. You will be told or shown the total amount payable when you buy the plan.
9. Paying in full
You can pay by debit/credit card, cheque or bank transfer. You will be completely covered straight away unless you have paid by cheque then you will be covered as soon as funds have cleared in our bank account.
10. Paying by instalment
If you choose to pay for your plan by monthly instalments up to 5 years, the cost of your plan (less any deposit paid) will be split evenly over the term you have chosen. An instalment charge, as detailed in section 8, will be applicable. Instalments will be collected monthly by Direct Debit. You can take out a plan up to 24 months no matter what age the beneficiary is. You can only choose a plan over a period longer than 24 months if the beneficiary is younger than 80 years of age by the time the plan is expected to finish. The plan is only guaranteed once all payment due towards the plan have paid or 24 months have passed since ordering your plan and all payments are up to date.
Your plan is at risk if you do not keep up with regular payments.
11. Our protection promise
If you choose to pay using our instalment plan then you automatically qualify for our protection promise.
This means that if the beneficiary dies after 24 months from the date of order, we will still provide the benefits stated in section 5 even if you have not finished your instalment plan. If the beneficiary dies in the first 24 months then we can either refund the amount paid in full or the representative can pay the remaining balance of the plan or we can use the amount paid towards the cost of arranging a direct cremation with us at the time of need, whichever is less. However, if the death is accidental or by violent means and not self-inflicted or linked to any illness, disease or the consumption of drugs or alcohol then we will still provide the benefits as stated in section 5.
12. When are instalments collected?
You can choose the 1st or 15th day of the month. You can change this date at any time. We reserve the right to amend the dates available for direct debit collections and will inform you if this affects you. If a direct debit fails because of lack of funds, we will automatically try to take the payment again 10 days later. Please make sure that the money is in your account ready to be debited for this time.
13. Can I pay a deposit?
Yes, if you are paying by instalment, you can pay any amount of deposit at the start of your plan. The remainder will be spread evenly over your chosen number of instalments plus any instalment charges.
14. What if I miss a payment?
If a direct debit fails because of lack of funds, we will automatically try to take the payment again 10 days later (or the next working day). Please make sure that the money is in your account ready to be debited at this time.
If you miss 2 consecutive monthly payments we will notify you in writing with a statement of all missed payments that are due to bring your plan back up to date. You will then have 10 working days to the make the payment in full or your plan will be cancelled by us. If we cancel your plan whilst payments are still due and it has been less than 24 months since the plan was taken out, you will receive a refund of all payments made to date. If 24 months have passed since your plan was taken out and we cancel your plan as per this clause, we will refund you all payments made less a £150 cancellation fee.
15. Can I make top-up payments?
No you cannot make top-up payments. We will only accept card payments during the lifetime of the plan if you need to repay any missed payments as per section 14. You can pay a deposit when you initially take out the plan, you can also change the direct debit amount which effects the length of your plan as per section 16. You can also pay the plan off at any time. To pay the plan off, simply contact us and ask for a settlement figure.
16. Can i change the instalment amount?
Yes, you can change the monthly amount you pay which will adjust the length of the term. However, the overall term must not exceed 60 months.
17. What documents will I receive?
After receiving your application, if acceptable we will process the payment method chosen and send your plan documents to you and your next of kin (unless opted out) within 5 working days. Plan documents will comprise a welcome letter, 2 cards with your unique plan number and our contact information, a plan certificate, your plan summary including payment receipt/instalment schedule, terms and conditions and complaints procedure and a nominated representative document. We will also send you a statement at least every 3 years.
18. How can I change my details?
It is important that we keep your records up to date. Let us know if you change your name, address, contact information, or any other details that may affect your plan, including those of any beneficiary. We do NOT charge anything for making changes to your details.
19. What if I lose my documents?
If you need replacement funeral plan documents, simply contact us and we will send you another copy free of charge.
20. The Celebration of Life Trust
In accordance with section 7, your money will be paid into The Celebration of Life Trust. This has been established in accordance with the requirements of the Financial Conduct Authority, which is responsible for regulating the funeral plan industry. The Trust is completely separate from our business and is managed by independent trustees. When the beneficiary dies, funds are released to us so that the cremation can be provided. Your plan is not an investment and any interest accrued on funds held in Trust is kept by the Trust to ensure our services are guaranteed in the future.
21. Managing the Trust funds
The funds are managed by professional investment managers who are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. They are tasked to invest the funds in accordance with the prudent investment policy of the Trust. The trustees regularly review the investment managers’ performance. Each year the Trust accounts are audited and an actuarial verification performed.
22. Prior and informed consent
By purchasing this funeral plan, whether payments are still due or not, you give us prior and informed consent to the transfer of our obligations towards you or the plan beneficiary under this funeral plan contract to another funeral plan provider in the event of our failure. This consent cannot be limited to a transfer to one or more particular firms. Consent must only be to transfers arranged by an insolvency practitioner appointed to us that will result in the funeral plan contract being carried out by the transferee on the same terms as this funeral plan contract or transfers arranged by the FSCS, in securing continuity of the funeral plan contract, with consent to the contract being varied so as to result in the funeral plan contract being carried out by the transferee on terms corresponding in all material respects (so far as it appears to the FSCS to be reasonable in the circumstances) to those which applied under this Funeral Plan contract.
23. What if we go out of business?
We are confident this will not happen. However, all plan funds are assets of the Trust which is completely separate from our business and is under the control of the independent trustees. In the unlikely event of our closure we will endeavour to find a suitable replacement provider to fulfil all funeral plans in place in accordance with section 22. If this is not possible and you have finished paying for your plan, then the Trustees shall refund you an amount they consider is a reasonable estimate of the cost, at the time of failure, of purchasing a replacement funeral plan contract on terms corresponding, in all material respects, to this funeral plan contract or, failing which, the Trustees shall distribute the Trust fund in shares proportionate to this. If you have not finished paying for your plan, then you will receive a refund of an amount proportionate to what you have paid to reflect the proportion of the paid up amount. The money you pay us towards your plan is guaranteed by the FSCS, so if you suffer a financial loss due to lack of funds then you may be entitled to compensation as stated in section 30.
24. What happens after death?
The death will need to be verified by a doctor or nurse. If the death occurs outside of a hospital then the representative will need to call the GP surgery or NHS 111 to organise this. They should then call us so that we can organise the urgent collection of the body. If the death occurs in hospital then the representative should still contact us as soon as possible within office hours, though we won’t usually be able to collect the body from hospital until after the death has been registered. We will send the representative a simple pre-filled in document to check and sign and we will walk them through the next steps and inform them of when each part of the process will take place. They will also need to book an appointment with the local register office to register the death.
25. Can other changes be made?
If a law changes that has an effect on costs within the industry, such as the addition of VAT; we may need to charge extra but will endeavour to keep the cost down as much as possible.
26. How can I cancel my plan?
Subject to the refund policy in section 27, you or the representative (If the plan beneficiary has died) can cancel any time prior to a cremation taking place by contacting us. This can be done by phone, email or post using our contact details at the end of this document. Please include your full name, address, plan number and a statement saying that you would like to cancel. We will acknowledge receipt within 14 days of receiving your request. We may require proof of identification, a copy of the will showing the executor (if applicable) and a death certificate (if applicable). If you pay by monthly instalment and cancel your direct debit without informing us, then this will be accepted as a form of notice to cancel.
27. Refund policy
We give you a 30 day full money back guarantee starting from the date you order your plan. If you cancel within this period and have not used any of the benefits stated in section 5, you will receive a full refund of any monies paid. If you or the representative cancel after this time then we will deduct a £150 cancellation fee. If we have completed any work towards the benefits of this plan prior to cancellation, then the cost of this work will also be deducted. If the total sum paid is less than our management fee or any deductions, then you will receive nothing and we may invoice you or your estate for any work done. Any refunds will be paid to you or the beneficiary’s estate in accordance with section 4. If you are paying by monthly instalment whereby a 24 month moratorium period applies, during the first 24 months or until your plan payments are completed, whichever is sooner, you will not receive the full benefits of our plan as detailed in section 5 and can cancel anytime to receive a full refund. After this time, your refund will be subject to a £150 cancellation fee.
28. Our right to cancel your plan
We can cancel your plan in accordance with sections 4 and 14 in which case we will refund you the total amount paid less a £150 cancellation fee if applicable. We can also cancel if we are not able to carry out what is included in your plan due to circumstances beyond our control (in this instance you will receive a full refund).
29. Making a complaint
If you or the appointed representative wish to make a complaint, you should do so as soon as possible by calling us on 0800 150 3555 or in writing to our email or postal address at the bottom of this document. If you call us and the complaint cannot be dealt with on the phone, we will record the complaint and respond to you in writing. We will try to remedy any complaint as quickly as possible and keep you updated throughout our investigation. If the complaint is complex and can’t be resolved in 3 days then we will advise you of a full schedule on how and when we intend to provide a final response. Should you remain dissatisfied you may be able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Full details will be provided to you on how you can do this. The nominated representative may need to show that they are authorised to complain on behalf of the funeral plan payer.
30. Compensation from the FSCS
If we are unable to meet our liabilities, you (or your estate), may be entitled to compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). You can find out more information about the FSCS by visiting their website at www.fscs.org.uk or by calling them on 0800 678 1100.
32. Applicable law
This agreement is between you and Celebration of Life Planning Ltd, a company registered in England & Wales number 12631930 at registered office; Celebration of Life, Enterprise House, Ocean Way, SOUTHAMPTON, SO14 3XB. English Law applies to this agreement. Any claim made in a court relating to your plan will be dealt with by the courts of England. If any part of the agreement does not apply, the rest of the agreement still stands.
How to contact us
Phone (freephone)
0800 150 3555
info@col.co.uk
Post
Celebration of Life, Enterprise House,
Ocean Way, SOUTHAMPTON, SO14 3XB
Version P21242
Updated: 1/7/2024