Prepaid Funeral Plans
Essential information on arranging and paying for your own funeral in advance.
Deciding to pay for your own funeral in advance is an important decision and it can also be a very rewarding one.
There are many reasons people choose to specify their arrangements before they die, including:
- Ensuring they have a say in what happens once they have passed away
- Wanting to lift the burden from family or friends
- Not having anyone they feel can make arrangements for them
- Financial reasons
At Freeman Brothers Funeral Directors, we understand that this can be a complicated decision for someone to make. To help, we have created four tiers that are structured to provide different levels of service, from a simple cremation to a more complex funeral, with a service in a place of worship if you wish.
We also offer a Tailormade Plan for those whose requirements do not fit into one of the tiered plans, and a Direct Cremation plan for customers who do not wish to have any attended funeral service included with their prepaid plan.
And you can be sure that, whichever of our plans you choose, our aim is always to provide an excellent level of service when the time finally comes. Your funds are kept in trust by an independent firm and we apply to them to pay the account once the funeral has taken place.
Information and advice on our products is available from each of our offices in Billingshurst, Crawley, Horsham and Hurstpierpoint.
Prepaid Funeral Plan Brochures
Prepaid Funeral Plan Brochures
Our Prepaid Funeral Plans give you the peace of mind that comes with knowing your arrangements are in place and family members will not have to make difficult decisions at a time of bereavement.
Other services that may be included, depending on the plan you choose, are: burial fee; church fee; a notice in the local paper; the provision of an order of service.
Full details are available by downloading our brochure and Terms and Conditions booklet.
Tiered Prepaid Funeral Plans
What does my plan include?
- Advice and help when the arrangements have to be carried out
- Bringing the deceased person into our care from within the mainland of Great Britain
- Preparation and care of the deceased person
- A coffin as specified
- Provision of transport as specified
- Staffing as specified
None of our tiers include the likely additional costs that may be incurred should death occur outside the mainland of Great Britain. Insurance policies, such as travel insurance, often include cover for such circumstances.
Other services included and excluded
In addition to the items included in all our products, these are the specific services included and excluded in each tier and our direct cremation product.
| Direct Cremation - Unattended cremation | Basic Tier Cremation | Simple Tier Cremation | Standard Tier Cremation | Principal Tier Burial* or Cremation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coffin provided | Simple foiled coffin | Simple oak-veneered coffin | Oak-veneered coffin | Good quality oak-veneered coffin | High quality oak-veneered coffin |
| Transport provided | Hearsette or private ambulance | Hearse | Hearse, which may be followed from an address | Hearse, which may be followed from an address | Hearse, which may be followed from an address |
| Staffing provided | Necessary for coffin transport only | A full team of conductor and required bearers | A full team of conductor and required bearers | A full team of conductor and required bearers | A full team of conductor and required bearers |
| Visits to the Chapel of Rest (in working hours by appointment) | |||||
| A limousine included | |||||
| Administration of donations | |||||
| Officiant’s fee | |||||
| Crematorium fee | For a direct cremation | For a full service | For a full service | For a full service | For a full service |
| If burial, interment fee | |||||
| Fees for a Place of Worship | |||||
| A notice in the local paper | |||||
| Orders of service included | Up to 50 copies | ||||
| The ability to add items at the prevailing rate | |||||
| Choice of date, time, and location | Freeman Brothers’ choice | At a local crematorium* of your choice, date and time chosen by Freeman Brothers | At a local crematorium* of your choice, at a mutually convenient day and time | Your choice of location, date and time (travel fees will apply for out-of-area* funerals) | Your choice of location, date and time (travel fees will apply for out-of-area* funerals) |
*The tiers do not cover the purchase of the plot if this is required in the chosen place of burial. We recommend this is done as soon as is practical (ideally, prior to the death taking place) to avoid situations where the chosen burial place cannot accommodate further burials at the time of death. The purchase of a Prepaid Funeral Plan for burial in a location where plots cannot be purchased in advance is not a guarantee of availability in that place at the time of death. We suggest an alternative choice of location is specified in case of this eventuality.
Some of our tiers specify a ‘local crematorium’, which we define as The Surrey and Sussex Crematorium in Crawley, Worthing Crematorium, or either of the crematoria in Brighton. Some of our tiers enable you to choose the funeral location, this can be anywhere in mainland Great Britain, but travel fees for vehicles and staff will apply outside of our local area (which we define as Sussex, Surrey, and Brighton and Hove).
Costs which your representatives may choose to incur at the time of arranging your funeral, such as floral tributes, a reception, or monumental masonry (such as a headstone) are payable at that time and not included in any of our prepaid funeral plan tiers- although monumental masonry can be included in a tailormade plan- and the receipt of flowers is not included in our Direct Cremation Plan.
Value Declaration
Freeman Brothers wants to ensure that customers who choose to pay for their funeral in advance receive good value in comparison to buying an equivalent funeral at the point it is purchased.
Our prepaid funeral plans are priced to be cheaper, or cost the same as, an equivalent at-need funeral provided by Freeman Brothers.
To conclude, the following table shows a comparison between these costs for our tiered and direct cremation plans:
| Product | Price | Equivalent at-need funeral price | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct Cremation | £1800 | £2068 | - £268 |
| Basic | £3350 | £3610 | - £260 |
| Simple | £3850 | £3990 | - £140 |
| Standard | £4300 | £4425 | - £125 |
| Principal | £4800 | £5230 | - £430 |
For our Tailormade Plans, one of our team will discuss your funeral requirements with you and your plan will be priced as an equivalent at-need funeral offered by Freeman Brothers at the time of purchase.
The money paid for a prepaid funeral plan is invested in the Freeman Brothers Funeral Trust. There is a charge of £199.00 if the plan is cancelled after 30 days or the moratorium period, for plans sold on an instalment basis.
Tiered Prepaid Funeral Plan Application
If you have identified the tier that best suits your personal demands and needs, you can download the application form here or, if you require further information, please contact us.
Please note: We can only provide factual information; we do not offer advice and it is up to you to decide whether our plan, and your chosen tier specifically, is appropriate for you. If required, we will discuss the features and benefits of each tier with you to help you with your decision-making.
Direct Cremation Prepaid Plan
If you do not require a funeral service, or you intend that any commemoration of your life is to be arranged outside the scope of a funeral plan, our Direct Cremation Plan may be suitable for your demands and needs. There is no option for an attended funeral. Freeman Brothers reserves the right to choose the crematorium, and the day and time of the cremation. For more information, please download our brochure or contact us.
Tailormade Prepaid Funeral Plan
If none of our other products meet your demands and needs, we also offer a Tailormade Plan, which we will construct on a bespoke basis to meet your specific requirements. As with all our products, it will be costed at today’s prices and the money kept in trust until it is needed.
Our tailormade plan may be suitable for those whose choice of arrangements would not be covered by our tiered plans or direct cremation plan. Reasons for this may be:
- Wanting a very simple attended funeral, for which even our Basic tier is too complex
- Wanting a very simple burial funeral (our simpler tiers are only suitable for cremations)
- Wanting a very complex arrangement, perhaps not in the local area or involving several locations
- Wanting something not covered by the tiered plan, such as a metal casket or horse-drawn hearse
- Wanting to only pre-pay for an ashes interment or headstone
We will price up your requirements at the current rate and then confirm your arrangements in writing. If you would like to discuss the Prepaid Funeral Plan in more detail, please contact us.
Complaints and FSCS
If you’re unhappy about any aspect of our prepaid funeral plan products or the associated customer service, please follow the link to our complaints procedure.
We are Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority: FCA Registration number 962064. You can search the FCA register to verify any company you deal with for the purchase of a prepaid funeral plan via the FCA website.
We offer a range of our own prepaid funeral plan products. We can give you factual information to enable you to decide whether a plan meets your personal demands and needs, however we do not give advice and cannot make a personal recommendation.
View and download information regarding the Freeman Brothers Prepaid funeral plan Complaint Handling Policy, and access information regarding the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
We are covered by the FSCS. You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS website: www.fscs.org.uk or by calling them on 0800 6781100.
Solvency Assessment Report (SAR)
All funeral plan providers whose funeral plans are backed by a Trust are obliged by the FCA’s regulatory regime to have the solvency of their Trust(s) regularly assessed, and to make this assessment available to interested parties. Freeman Brothers Funeral Trust’s latest SAR is provided here for your information.
