Terms and Conditions

PREPAID FUNERAL PLAN TERMS & CONDITIONS

Information About Us
1. Who are we; “We” or “us” are Independent Funeral Planning Services Limited (Company Number 13556844) with registered office at 63 High Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6BX. We will be your Funeral Plan Provider responsible for administering your Funeral Plan. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to sell funeral plans. You can find us on the Financial Services Register which can be viewed at https://register.fca.org.uk. Our Firm Reference Number (FRN) is: 962434. We are not a Funeral Director, or funeral services provider. We work with a network of providers to carry out our plans, some of whom are our Appointed Representatives and Introducer Appointed Representatives (see below for definitions).
  The funeral director the Funeral Plan relates to, will be referenced on your application at time of purchase.
2. In these terms and conditions:
  “Administration Fee” means the charge payable by you in accordance with the provisions of these terms and conditions (being £295 for all plans taken out from 29^th July 2022). See 3.6 for more information on total plan pricing.
  “Application” means the application form you have completed, signed, and returned to us.
  “Appointed Representative” means a representative appointed by us, who directly authorised by the FCA to sell our Funeral Plans on our behalf”
  “Business Day” means any day other than a Saturday or Sunday or a public or bank holiday in the United Kingdom.
  “Covered Individual” means the person named within the Funeral Plan Summary on whose death a funeral is covered by the Funeral Plan (who may also be you).
  “Disbursements” means third-party costs that are outside of your funeral directors control, such as crematorium fees, ministers fees and doctors’ fees. You can choose to guarantee these costs within your plan or pay a contribution towards them. If a plan has been purchased with a contribution towards disbursements, you should be aware that these costs may increase over time. This will mean that at the time of need, any shortfall must be paid from your Estate.
  “Estate” means the Covered Individual’s next of kin, executors, trustees and/or representative who are legally authorised to act for the Covered Individual after his or her death.
  “Funeral Pack” means the documentation supplied by us to you containing the Funeral Plan Summary, the Nominated Representative document (if any), a copy of these terms and conditions and our privacy notice.
  “Funeral Plan Contract” the contract between you and us to carry out the Funeral Plan in accordance with the documents set out at clause 2.1.
  “Funeral Plan Statement” means a statement sent to you every 3 years providing you with details of the Funeral Plan.
  “Funeral Plan Summary” the separate document summarising the details and main terms of the chosen Funeral Plan.
  “Funeral Plan” means the funeral plan agreed in the Application and identified in the Funeral Plan Summary.
  “Guaranteed Disbursements” means the third-party costs that are guaranteed to be covered in your chosen funeral plan.
  “Introducer Appointed Representative” means a representative who is not directly authorised by the FCA to sell funeral plans on our behalf but is appointed by IFPS to introduce customers to IFPS with a view to facilitating Funeral Plan services.
  “Management Fee” means the fee to manage and maintain the plan until the time of need, which includes a small inflationary cushion. See 3.6 for more information on total plan pricing.
  “Moratorium Period” means the period in which you, if applicable, are paying instalments to us for the Funeral Plan during which we are not obliged to provide, or secure the provision of, a funeral on death. For the avoidance of doubt, the Moratorium Period ends on the day you pay your final instalment, or your balance is cleared, whichever is first.
  “Nominated Representative” means, if applicable, the individual you have chosen to be made aware of the Funeral Plan and whom we will contact on your death (or the death of the Covered Individual as the case may be).
  “Trust” means The Independent Funeral Planning Services Trust (or for plans taken out before 29^th July 2022, the Go As You Please Funeral Plan Trust) administered by The Funeral Trustee Company Limited (CRN: 08772699) whose registered office is at 63 High Bridge, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, NE1 6BX.
  “you/your” the applicant/person applying for the Funeral Plan (you may also be the Covered Individual).
Our Contract With You
1. The following documents make up the agreement between you and us:
  1. the signed Application,
  2. the Funeral Plan Summary, and
  3. these Terms and Conditions.
2. Our Contract. We (or our Appointed Representative) will provide you with the Funeral Plan Summary once we have received your signed Application and Administration Fee. We will issue you with the formal Funeral Pack within 14 days, identifying the Funeral Plan chosen, at which point the Funeral Plan Contract will come into existence between you and us.
3. Upon receipt of your Funeral Pack, please check that all information is correct, and inform us of any errors within 30 days.
4. Your contact details. If we have to contact you, we will do so by telephone or by writing to you at the email address or postal address you provided to us in your Application.
5. The Funeral Plan Statement. Once every 3 years from the date of the Funeral Plan Contract, we will send you at the email address or postal address you provided to us in your Application, the Funeral Plan Statement summarising your Funeral Plan.
6. Nominated Representative. Unless you have expressly stated in the Application that you do not want us to contact your Nominated Representative or that no Nominated Representative is to be appointed, we will provide your Nominated Representative with an explanatory document within 5 Business Days of issue of the Funeral Plan Contract.
The Funeral Plan
1. Eligibility. The Funeral Plans are available to UK residents who are aged 50 or over at the date of application. We may accept applications for UK residents under 50 at our sole discretion.
2. Plan Types. Our Funeral Plans are created on a bespoke basis in conjunction with our Appointed Representative and Introducer Appointed Representative Funeral Directors to reflect local pricing and their particular selection of products and services. In addition we offer the option to purchase Funeral Plans via our website. Plans are offered with either a fixed contribution towards disbursements, or with guaranteed disbursements. In the case of guaranteed disbursements these will be specified when you purchase your plan and on your Funeral Plan Summary, and may typically include crematorium fees, minister fees and doctors’ fees.
3. What the Plan covers. The Funeral Plan purchased shall include those products and services set out in the personalised Funeral Plan Summary included in the Funeral Pack.
4. What Our Plans do not cover. The cost for products and services which will not be included in the Funeral Plan may include, but are not limited to:
  - (a) a memorial (for example, headstone), flowers, additional limousines, press notice and order of service,
  - (b) catering,
  - (c) any fees payable to a coroner,
  - (d) the use of an organist, choir or live music,
  - (e) any costs incurred to remove a medical device (e.g., a pacemaker) or a prosthesis (e.g., an artificial limb),
  - (f) conducting the funeral on a weekend, at an unusual hour or public holiday,
  - (g) burial services and purchasing a burial plot,
  - (h) repatriation costs,
  - (i) special wishes,
  - (j) a person to officiate such as a religious minister (other than our nominated humanist minister),
  - (k) cost of a church service, and
  - (l) embalming
    We cannot reasonably calculate those charges in advance and therefore, if they are required, they will need to be paid for separately by your Estate before the funeral takes place. You can make a “contribution towards” these costs at any time, and the contribution will be added to your Funeral Plan. Please note, these charges are not included in our definition of “Disbursements”.
5. Price Guarantee. Where the price of your chosen plan includes guaranteed disbursements, and this is expressly confirmed within your Funeral Plan Summary, we guarantee to pay those disbursement costs at the time of the funeral. If you have elected not to guarantee disbursements and only contribute an amount towards them, your funeral costs are not guaranteed, and we shall have no liability for third party costs that exceed your contribution at the time of the funeral.
6. Total Price. The total price of our plans includes the wholesale cost in providing your chosen Funeral Plan (which will be held in Trust then paid by us to the Funeral Director at time of need), plus our administration fee of £295 for arranging and establishing the plan (our administration fee reflects our actual business costs in setting up the plan); we also charge a £200 management fee to manage and maintain the plan until the time of need, which includes a small inflationary cushion.
Your responsibilities
1. How you can pay. You can pay for the Funeral Plan in full by bacs, cheque, credit or debit card or in instalments by standing order over 12 months (please see below regarding paying by instalments). Our Appointed Representatives may take payment from you as our agent, but the payment will be made directly to us.
2. Who can pay. Another person can pay for your Funeral Plan but if they don’t pay, you are still responsible. You will own and control your Funeral Plan and will receive the documents relating to it.
3. Change of details. Please let us know if you or the Covered Individual under the Funeral Plan (if different) change your or their name, address, or any other information that may affect your Funeral Plan.
4. The Applicant. If you are the Covered Individual, the rights and benefits set out in our contract with you accrue to you and you are responsible for making payments to us in accordance with our contract. If you have named a different person as the Covered Individual on the Application, the rights and benefits set out in our contract with you will nevertheless accrue to you and not to the Covered Individual.
5. Change of funeral location. The Funeral Plan provides for your funeral to be provided at the location specified in the Application. If you change your address, you must notify us, and we will have the right to nominate an appropriate alternative funeral director or cancel the Funeral Plan in accordance with clause 7.7.3. If, notwithstanding the change of address, you or your Estate wish the funeral to be undertaken by us then you or your Estate will be responsible for any additional transport costs (beyond a 20mile radius) incurred in connection with the funeral. Additional mileage, if applicable, is charged per mile at our rate applicable at the date of the funeral.
Payment by instalments
1. Instalments. The maximum period available to you will be 12 months and there are no additional charges for using such payment option. You will pay the instalments by standing order.
2. Paying off early. You can make one-off extra payments on any instalment plan at any time to reduce your balance or you can pay the rest of the balance on your Funeral Plan at any time.
3. If you fail to pay. If you have a payment shortfall of two consecutive payments, we will provide you with a statement of the payments due, the total amount of the shortfall and information on the consequences under the Funeral Plan Contract if the payment shortfall is not paid within 10 Business Days of the notification.
4. If you die before all payments are made. Should the Covered Individual pass away prior to full payment of the Funeral Plan, the cost and arrangements detailed in the Funeral Plan Summary will still be honoured, and we will credit the amount you have contributed (less the Administration Fee) towards the cost of the funeral. The outstanding balance will need to be paid for by your Estate at the time of the funeral. Alternatively, the Estate can choose not to pay the balance and the Funeral Plan will be deemed to be cancelled. If this is the case, we will return the instalments paid on the Funeral Plan to the Estate less the Administration Fee in accordance with clause 7.6.
Our Responsibilities
1. How we keep your money safe. All Funeral Plan costs to cover your funeral (those to be paid to the funeral director at the time of need) are passed to the Trust to be held in a secure account in accordance with the Trust deed. This money is held in the Trust from the time that you pay us.
2. Appointment of Agent. You irrevocably appoint us for the duration of the Funeral Plan Contract as an agent for the purpose of asserting any right or interest you may have in the Trust, such appointment being without prejudice to the possibility of you or the Covered Individual asserting your/his/her rights or interests yourself/themself.
3. Release of funds. Upon supply of proof of death to us by your Estate, we will pass such documentation to the Trust who will then release the funds to us for the execution of your funeral by your funeral director.
4. Substitution. We reserve the right to substitute any of the goods or services specified in the Funeral Plan Summary with an equivalent alternative at no further charge should the goods and services specified be unavailable when required.
5. What if we or our Representatives go out of business? If we are unable to provide the Funeral Plan under the Funeral Plan Contract the money will be protected by the Trust under the control of the independent trustee. The trustee will work with the Financial Conduct Authority (or equivalent regulatory body) for a replacement funeral provider to provide your Funeral Plan Contract. Alternatively, the funds will be returned to the person purchasing the Funeral Plan, or (if this is you), after your death, to your Estate. You or the Estate also have the right to make a claim from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if your Funeral Plan hasn’t already been carried out. You can find out more by visiting fscs.or.uk or contacting the scheme directly by post: Financial Services Compensation Scheme, PO Box 300, Mitcheldean, GL17 1DY or by telephone: 0800 678 1100 or 0207 741 4100.
6. Consent. Further to clause 6.5, you hereby consent to the transfer of our obligations (towards you or, where appropriate, the Covered Individual) under the Funeral Plan Contract to another funeral plan provider in the event of our failure to carry out your Funeral Plan Contract, provided that this consent is only in relation to:
  1. 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 at this Funeral Plan Contract you entered into with us; and
  2. transfers arranged by 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 the Funeral Plan Contract entered into with us.
Cancellation
1. How you can cancel. You may cancel the Funeral Plan without giving any reason and without penalty within the “Cancellation Period” which is defined as either:
  - (a) within 30 days of the date of receipt by you of the Funeral Pack; or
  - (b) in the case of an instalment payment plan, within the Moratorium Period.
2. If you do wish to cancel your Funeral Plan you must notify us, either:
  - (a) by completing and returning the cancellation form entitled “Cancellation Form” which will be supplied upon request; or
  - (b) by post to 63 High Bridge, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, NE1 6BX; or
  - (c) by telephone on 0191 7169561; or
  - (d) by email to enquiries@the-ifps.co.uk; or
  - (e) informing the Appointed Representative from whom you purchased the Funeral Plan.
3. Any notification of cancellation should specify the Covered Individual’s name, your name (if different), your address, and the plan reference.
4. Provided we receive such notification within the Cancellation Period, we will refund all the money you have paid within 30 days of us receiving notification of cancellation.
5. If you wish to cancel the Funeral Plan after the Cancellation Period, you must notify us in the same manner as set out in clause 7.2 and we will refund any money you have paid, less the Administration Fee, within 30 days of us receiving notification of cancellation.
6. Unless otherwise agreed any refunds shall be paid to the person purchasing the Funeral Plan.
7. How we can cancel. We may cancel the Funeral Plan by giving notice to you if:
  1. you have a payment shortfall of 2 consecutive payments, we have notified you within 5 Business Days of the second missed payment and you have not paid the payment shortfall within 10 Business days of the date of that notification in accordance with clause 5.4,
  2. the Covered Individual dies within the Moratorium Period and the outstanding balance is not paid for by the Estate,
  3. the funeral is to be conducted at a location other than the location identified in the Funeral Plan Summary,
  4. the funeral cannot be performed because of circumstances outside of our control (for example, war, terrorism, or riot).
8. If we cancel the Funeral Plan in accordance with clause 7.7, the Funeral Plan Contract is terminated and the cost of your Funeral Plan less the Administration Fee will be refunded to the person purchasing the Funeral Plan, or (if this is you), after your death, to your Estate, and we will have no further obligations to provide the benefit set out in the Funeral Plan.
9. No interest or investment returns on payments made shall be payable in respect of refunds due to cancellation by either of us.
10. Change of Funeral Plan. If during the life of your Funeral Plan you wish to amend your plan or change to a different plan, then you can upgrade or downgrade your plan at our sole discretion. No changes can be made to the Funeral Plan after the Covered Individual’s death unless the Covered Individual’s Estate agrees any changes and pays any additional costs to the funeral director directly, and subject always to the Covered Individual’s wishes expressed in the Application Form.
11. Upgrades. The cost of any upgrade will be the difference between the prevailing Funeral Plan prices at the time the upgrade is made.
12. Downgrades. If you request a downgrade, we will refund the difference between the price you paid for the Funeral Plan and the current price of the new plan. A downgrade is only available with the Covered Individual’s consent during their lifetime.
13. If you make any changes set out in clauses 7.10 to 7.12, we will make the changes to the Funeral Plan Summary and send you a copy. If you are paying by instalments, your new instalments will reflect the changes you make.
Complaints
1. If you have a complaint about us, please contact us directly in the first instance and we will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 7 days. We will provide you with a final response, or written response indicating when we will give you a final response, within 8 weeks after our receipt of your complaint.
  Post: Independent Funeral Planning Services Limited
  63 High Bridge, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, NE1 6BX
  Tel: 0191 7169561
  Email: enquiries@the-ifps.co.uk
2. If your complaint cannot be resolved, you may refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/. Their telephone number is 0800 023 4567.
Data Protection
1. We will only process your personal data, the personal data of the Covered Individual (if different) and the personal data of the Nominated Representative in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
2. When you provide information to us about the Covered Individual (if applicable) and/or the Nominated Representative you must have their permission to do so and have told them about how we will use their personal information.
3. Please view our Privacy Policy for more information on how we handle your data.
VAT
1. Apart from the specific instances referred to in clause 10.2 below, the Funeral Plan does not include VAT. However, if at the time of the funeral VAT is payable on the funeral service or any part of it then any increased costs will be payable by you (or other person arranging the funeral) to us.
2. Some Funeral Plans do include a charge for VAT on certain items. If at the date of the funeral the rate of VAT has increased, then the Covered Individual or Estate will be liable for the increase which will be payable to us in accordance with their payment terms.
Miscellaneous
1. We may amend these terms from time to time and will give written notice to you of any material amendments which have been made.
2. Each of the paragraphs of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.
3. The Funeral Plan is personal to you, the person specified on the Funeral Plan Summary, and cannot be sold or used as security for a loan. We may consider a request in writing to either:
  - (a) nominate a different Covered Individual or,
  - (b) transfer your rights and obligations under these terms to a new Applicant,
  - (c) In the event we grant our prior written consent to either of the above transactions, we will issue a new funeral plan contract for the new Covered Individual and/or Applicant (as applicable). This may incur a further administrative charge payable by you.
4. English law applies to your Funeral Plan unless you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland. If you live in Scotland, Scots law will apply. If you live in Northern Ireland, the laws of Northern Ireland will apply.

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