Farewill Funerals: funeral plan terms and conditions

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These terms include details of your Farewill Funeral Plan, who we are, how our Plans work, how you can make changes to your Plan and how to get in touch with us.

Please read these terms and your funeral plan summary carefully and before your cancellation period ends, to make sure your Plan is the right choice for you. If you do not agree with these terms, you must cancel your Plan, following the process outlined in the section ‘How you can cancel’, below.

If you would like a paper copy of these terms, please contact us using the contact details below and we will send you a paper copy free of charge.

These terms and your funeral plan
How to contact us
How we’ll contact you
Buying a plan
What’s included in your plan
What’s not included in your plan
Paying for your plan in full
Paying for your Plan in instalments
How you can cancel
How we can cancel
If we fail to provide your plan
How we keep your money
What happens when the Covered Individual dies
What if the Plan is not used?
To make a complaint, get in touch with us
Financial Services Compensation Scheme
Other important terms
Farewill Funerals: Disclosure Statement

1. These terms and your funeral plan

Who we are

We’re Farewill Funerals Limited, registered in England and Wales at 1st Floor, 27 Downham Road, N1 5AA, UK, under company number 12278192 and we provide and administer funeral plans. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with Firm Reference Number 995901. Our registration details can be accessed online at https://register.fca.org.uk.

The words we use in this document

We’ll use the words “we”, “us” and “our” to refer to Farewill Funerals Limited. When we say “you”, “your”, “I” and “my”, we mean the person that has bought the Plan for the Covered Individual.

When we refer to “Accidental Death” we mean a death which occurs within 90 days of an Accident. An Accident means an event caused by violent, external bodily injury which could not be predicted and was not intentional. This excludes self inflicted injury, such as suicide, or activities where there is an inherent risk of injury (such as war, involvement in criminal acts, extreme sports, drug use, or injury while intoxicated) and death by natural causes, an illness or disease.

“Covered Individual” means the person whose funeral is provided for under the Plan in accordance with these terms (which can be you).

When we refer to “Planned Funeral”, we mean a direct cremation. A direct cremation is an unattended cremation without a ceremony or service.

When we refer to “Plan” or “Plans”, we mean a funeral plan administered by Farewill Funerals Limited.

These terms, governing law and disputes

Your agreement is made up of these terms and conditions, the funeral plan disclosure statement and your funeral plan summary. These legal terms are between you and Farewill Funerals Limited. This agreement is for your benefit only.

You cannot transfer your Plan to another person and the Covered Individual under the Plan cannot be changed. We may transfer, assign, sub-contract, charge or otherwise deal in any other manner with all or any of our rights or obligations under these terms without your prior written consent. We will always tell you in writing if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under these terms. No other person (except your nominated representative) shall have any rights to enforce any of these terms.

If there is a complaint or a dispute, and we cannot resolve it using our complaints procedure (which you can see below), you may be able to go to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The Financial Ombudsman Service is free to use.

If we need to make changes to these terms

We may change our terms and services, to reflect changes in law, tax rules or regulation or to make minor adjustments or improvements. Sometimes this could mean we need to apply additional charges or cancel your Plan and give you a refund. If we do, we’ll let you and your nominated representative (if you have one) know using the contact information you give us. External factors beyond our control may mean that we are unable to notify you of the change before it is implemented. If we think any alteration to these terms is to your advantage, we will make it immediately and tell you at a later date.

2. How to contact us

If you need to talk to us about anything to do with your Plan, including lost documents, changing your contact or bank details or changing the monthly payment date of your Plan, please contact us.

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 020 3966 3935
Post: 1st Floor, 27 Downham Road, N1 5AA, UK

3. How we’ll contact you

We’ll contact you in English using email, phone or post to your home address. If any of your details change, please let us know as soon as possible.

All the emails we send are from individuals or the team they’re in. That means the email address they are sent from will be an individual or team name followed by the domain @farewill.com. Please be wary of any spam emails claiming to be from Farewill, and if you’re not sure, contact us using the details above.

You may nominate a representative when purchasing your Plan. If you provide us with contact details for your nominated representative, we will get in touch with them to let them know about the Plan and provide them with a nominated representative document. If you would rather we did not contact them directly and provide the nominated representative document, please let us know when you speak to us about paying for your Plan.

4. Buying a Plan

You need to be 18 or over and live in England or Wales (not including Isles of Scilly and Isle of Wight) to buy a Plan. If you’re paying by monthly instalments over 24 months, you must have made all your payments by your 80th birthday. An instalment plan is not suitable for people receiving end of life care.

A Funeral Plan may not be suitable if you've already made arrangements for a funeral (for example, if you have funeral insurance).

Can someone other than the Covered Individual pay for the Plan?

Yes, if they are over 18.

5. What’s included in your plan

A direct cremation and all crematorium fees
A coffin and urn
Hand-delivery of your ashes or scattering in a garden of remembrance
Contribution of up to £82 for a doctor to confirm the cause of death (if there’s no post-mortem)
Contribution of up to £250 for urgent collection (if we need to collect the Covered Individual from a house or a care home)
Contribution of up to £90 for the cost to remove a medical device

You are covered for Accidental Death from the day you take out your Plan.

We’ll send you a funeral plan summary, which also shows what’s included. This forms part of these terms.

If something is not available at the time of your Planned Funeral, you agree for us to provide a reasonable alternative at no additional cost. We’ll always do our best to help organise the Planned Funeral, but we cannot guarantee any specific items or a specific area or crematorium ahead of time.

In the event that a contribution is not used for the stated purpose, it is non refundable and it cannot be used against any other costs or alternative contribution(s). The contributions for a doctor to confirm the cause of death, urgent collection and removal of a medical device listed above are reviewed at the end of each calendar year and will increase in line with the Consumer Price Index for that calendar year. Any increase will be applied on 1 January in each year.

6. What’s not included in your plan

Our Plan is specifically designed for those who want a cremation only. This is a simple, unattended cremation that takes place at a time and crematorium of our choosing. Our plans never include the following:

Transporting the body if the Covered Individual dies outside of mainland England and Wales
Additional costs that may be payable for providing the Planned Funeral where the Covered Individual is over 188cm or 127kg
The cost of a memorial service
The option to choose the crematorium
Attendance at the cremation (a direct cremation takes place without friends or family present at the crematorium)
Items requested by the person arranging the Planned Funeral (for example, flowers)
Any additional costs associated with changes in regulation, tax, law or industry accepted practice, which affects the conduct of your Planned Funeral

Should any of these costs apply, they will need to be paid for by the person organising your funeral at least 5 working days before the Planned Funeral.

7. Paying for your Plan in full

If you pay in full, we’ll provide the Planned Funeral in line with your Plan when the Covered Individual dies.

8. Paying for your Plan in instalments

You can pay for your Plan over 24 months for an extra charge.

If you choose to pay in instalments over 24 months, we will split the cost of your Plan evenly, over 24 months, and we’ll charge an instalment charge to cover the lost investment income caused by paying for your Plan in instalments, rather than in a single up front payment. The instalment charge is set out in your funeral plan summary which is provided with these terms.

If you choose this option, we will collect the payments in monthly instalments. Your funeral plan summary will show the total amount you’ll pay.

Your Plan is at risk if you do not keep up with regular payments.

If the Covered Individual dies within the first 24 months from the start date of your Plan

If the Covered Individual dies as a result of an Accidental Death within 24 months from the start date of your Plan there won’t be any more to pay and we will provide the Planned Funeral.

If the Covered Individual dies within 24 months from the start date of the Plan and their death was not an Accidental Death, their estate will have a choice of either a full refund of all monthly payments paid, or to pay the difference between the payments made and the cost of a Farewill funeral at the time.

If the Covered Individual dies after 24 months from the start date of your Plan

If the Covered Individual dies after you have either paid in full, or after 24 months from the start date of your Plan, then no further payments will be required and we will provide the Planned Funeral.

Let us know if you’re struggling to pay

If you think you might have trouble paying your monthly instalments or want to talk to us about your monthly instalments, please get in touch.

If you want to repay the balance of your instalment plan early

You can pay the rest of the balance on your plan at any time. You can contact us on 020 3966 3935 and we can tell you how much you’ve got left to pay. All the other terms of the plan will remain the same as when you bought it.

You cannot make top up payments with this Plan

Top up payments are not an option with this Plan.

9. How you can cancel

To cancel your Plan, call us on 020 3966 3935 or email us at [email protected] and we’ll be in touch.

If we need to pay any money back to you, we will refund directly to the account we have taken payment from. We will not refund to any other method of payment or to any other individual.

If you’ve paid for your plan in full

If you’ve paid for your Plan in full, you can cancel your Plan without giving us a reason within 30 days of buying your Plan and we’ll give you a full refund.

If you cancel after 30 days for any reason, we’ll charge a cancellation fee of £300 and refund you the balance of your payment.

If you've paid for your plan in instalments

If you’ve paid for your Plan in instalments you can cancel your Plan without giving us a reason within 24 months of the start of the Plan and we’ll give you a full refund.

If you cancel after 24 months for any reason, we’ll charge a cancellation fee of £300 and refund you any balance of payments made.

10. How we can cancel

We can cancel your Plan:

If you are paying by instalments and miss a monthly payment, we will contact you. If you miss a second payment, we will contact you up to 5 business days after the payment has been missed. If we do not hear from you within the following 10 business days, we can cancel your plan.
If you knowingly provide us with false or incorrect information we can cancel your plan.

If you’ve paid for your plan in full

If we cancel your Plan for any of the above reasons after the 30 day cancellation period, we’ll charge a cancellation fee of £300 and refund you the balance of your payment.

If you’ve paid for your plan in instalments

If you’ve paid in instalments and we cancel your Plan within 24 months you will receive a full refund.

If you’ve paid in instalments and we cancel your Plan after 24 months we’ll charge a cancellation fee of £300 and refund you any balance of payments made.

If you’ve paid less than £300 when we cancel your Plan, you will not receive a refund.

11. If we fail to provide your plan

In the unlikely event we were to go out of business, there are arrangements in place that make it likely your Plan contract will continue to be provided by a new firm while keeping the terms and service that were agreed. If we go out of business, you give us your prior and informed consent for the transfer of our obligations to another firm that is authorised to provide funeral plans. This is arranged by an insolvency practitioner appointed to us that will result in the funeral plan contract being continued on the same terms. Where the transfer is arranged by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and is on terms corresponding in all material respects (so far as it appears to the FSCS to be reasonable in the circumstances) to these terms, we do not require the consent of the Covered Individual in respect of these transfers.

In the event that your Plan contract could not be carried out by us or another firm that was appointed, you would promptly receive a refund of all the money held on your behalf within the independent Trust. There would be no further deductions.

If a new provider is unable to carry out your Plan, your Plan would end and you may incur additional costs in making new arrangements with a new provider.

If a transfer of your Plan to another provider or return of your payments is not possible, you will be entitled to compensation under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0800 678 1100 or 0207 741 4100
Web: www.fscs.org.uk

12. How we keep your money

We place your money in a trust (the “Trust”). This has been established and is managed in strict accordance with rules set out by the Financial Conduct Authority using their statutory powers derived from the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

You irrevocably appoint us, for the duration of the Plan, as an agent for the purposes of asserting any right or interest that you have in the Trust, such appointment being without prejudice to the possibility of you or the Covered Individual asserting your rights or interests.

The Disclosure Statement below contains a breakdown of the money that goes into trust, and any that is taken as a fee.

When the Covered Individual dies, the Trust releases your money to us so we can arrange your Planned Funeral. Your money can be released in other circumstances too, like if you cancel your Plan. You also authorise the Trust to pay us other overheads and expenses from time to time, as long as the Trust has enough money to carry out your Planned Funeral.

The money paid into the Trust is managed by a fund manager that is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. They invest the money in accordance with the investment policy of the Trust. This policy is reviewed each year to ensure a cautious and ethical approach is maintained by the fund manager. The Trustees regularly review the fund manager’s performance, and every year we do a review to make sure we can provide the Plans we’ve sold. Independent professional actuaries carry out an annual valuation for our Plans and we report the results in our year-end accounts.

13. What happens when the Covered Individual dies

Farewill Funerals is the funeral service provider. When the Covered Individual dies, the nominated representative and/or the person organising your funeral will need to contact us and give us the Covered Individual’s name, date of birth, Plan number and a copy of the Covered Individual’s death certificate. We’ll explain what’s included in your Plan and support them in organising your Planned Funeral. We will deliver the Planned Funeral in accordance with your Plan. There will be no refunds for any unused services covered by the Plan.

If any further payments are required under the Plan, we will inform you or the Covered Individual’s estate within 24 hours of receiving the notification of the Covered Individual’s death that further payments are due to us under the Plan contract, the sums received under the Plan contract and the amount of the shortfall.

If the person organising your funeral wants to use another funeral director, or the funeral has already taken place with another provider, we’ll cancel your Plan and return the money to your estate. A cancellation fee of £300 will apply. Once the person organising your funeral has started organising your Planned Funeral, or once the Planned Funeral has happened with us, they cannot cancel the Plan.

14. What if the Plan is not used?

We’ll stay in regular contact with you and your nominated representative (if you have one) using the contact details you have given us. If your Plan hasn’t been claimed 12 months after the Covered Individual’s death or 12 months after their 112th birthday we’ll assume that you or the nominated representative has chosen not to claim the Plan benefits. We’ll then have the right to terminate your Plan and retain any payments you’ve made.

15. To make a complaint, get in touch with us

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0330 818 3830
Post: Farewill Funerals Limited, 27 Downham Rd, London, N1 5AA

We will send you a prompt written acknowledgment or, if the complaint can be resolved within 3 business days, a summary resolution communication. We’ll also let you know about the Financial Ombudsman Service, and how you can contact them.

For more complex complaints, we’ll send you our final response as soon as we’ve completed our investigation and no later than within 8 weeks. We’ll also keep you informed in writing along the way so you’ll know when to expect to hear from us.

If we haven’t been able to finalise our investigation within 8 weeks, we’ll send you a letter letting you know and what steps you can take. These will include letting you know you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you’d prefer not to wait until we’ve finalised our investigation. The Financial Ombudsman Service is free to use.

Contacting the Financial Ombudsman Service:

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0800 023 4567
Post: The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR

16. Financial Services Compensation Scheme

If we, or the Trust fails, and if you or the Covered Individual satisfy the eligibility criteria, you/they may be entitled to compensation under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). FSCS can pay compensation to customers if they are eligible and a regulated firm (like ours) is unable to pay claims against it. This could happen if the firm stops trading or is insolvent. There are different compensation limits, depending on the type of claim.

FSCS must pay compensation when it thinks it’s the fair thing to do. The amount it will pay depends on its policies. For funeral plan contracts, the FSCS will cover up to £85,000. If they think it’s appropriate, FSCS may also make payment to a funeral director to cover the cost of a funeral in certain circumstances.

For further information about the compensation provided by the FSCS please refer to the FSCS website at www.fscs.org.uk

17. Other important terms

Our registration number with the Information Commissioner’s Office is ZB220412. We collect, store and use your personal information to provide and manage your funeral plan. For information on how we do this, see our privacy notice. You can find this online at www.farewill.com/privacy. If you’d like a paper copy of our privacy notice, just let us know.

You may supply information about another person or other people to us when you buy your Plan. You confirm that you have their permission to pass on their details, including any sensitive data to us and that they agree to us holding and processing their information and data. Data provided to us will be processed in accordance with our privacy policy.

We will write to you if we become aware of a conflict of interest for example where our interests or those of another client become conflicted with your interests and ask for your consent prior to proceeding with your instructions. Under the terms of our conflicts of interest policy, where we cannot otherwise manage an identified conflict of interest, we may be unable to provide you with the services described above. We will inform you in writing should this situation arise.

18. Farewill Funerals: Disclosure Statement

Payment upfront cost

The total cost of your funeral plan is £1,595.

Paying in Instalments cost

The total cost of your funeral plan is £1,695. If you pay in instalments, the total cost includes a £100 charge to cover the lost investment income caused by paying for your Plan in instalments.

From the total cost of your plan, we will put £985 into an independent trust. This will be used to pay for the direct cremation when it’s needed. Any additional money is retained by Farewill Funerals Ltd to cover costs such as marketing, setting up and administering your plan.

You can find the equivalent at-need price (the price of arranging a funeral today), by visiting the Farewill Funerals website: www.farewill.com/funerals/direct-cremation.

Value Added Tax is not currently chargeable upon the provision of certain elements of funeral services. We reserve the right to recover this cost, if it becomes chargeable, from you or your representatives who are arranging the funeral service at redemption. Value Added Tax is chargeable on certain items. If at the date of the Funeral the rate of VAT has increased, you or the person arranging your Funeral will be liable for the increase which will be payable to us. Other taxes or costs may exist that are not paid through us or imposed by us.