Funeral Plans are only available for people aged 50 or over.
This document is intended to provide you with a summary of the key features and benefits of the Dignity Prepaid Funeral Plan to allow you to assess whether it meets your requirements. Please refer to the Plan literature and Terms and Conditions that accompany this document for full details on the Plan.
Dignity offers a choice of Prepaid Funeral Plans, which let you pay for certain funeral costs in advance and include the main services for a funeral.
Dignity is one of the UK’s leading providers of funeral plans. Dignity launched the UK’s first nationally available funeral plan in 1985 and has helped over 740,000 people plan for their funeral in advance. Dignity plc is one of the UK’s largest operators of Funeral Directors and crematoria and is a British company listed on the London Stock Exchange.
You can have a Dignity Prepaid Funeral Plan if the person who the funeral is for is aged 50 or over and the funeral is to take place in mainland Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Jersey, Isle of Wight or Isle of Man (Limited Plan not available on the Isle of Man).
The Dignity Prepaid Funeral Plan will provide the guaranteed services included in the Plan through a Dignity Nominated Funeral Director when the time comes. Provided that the Plan is paid for in full there will be nothing further to pay for the guaranteed services covered by the Plan.
Funeral Director Services;
Third Party Cremation Costs;
Dependent on the Plan chosen, the following are also guaranteed:
If burial is chosen, the Plan will include a contribution of £1,220 towards third party burial costs in place of the guaranteed Third Party Cremation Costs listed above. We will increase the value of the £1,220 contribution each year in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation to help it keep pace with rising costs.
The Plans do not include:
Other Plan limitations include:
Limited Plan limitations:
Dignity’s Prepaid Funeral Plans are designed to meet our customers’ different requirements and budgets. For example you can make a single payment or spread the cost of your Plan over 12 monthly instalments. The prices for these options are:
| Plan | Single Payment | 12 Monthly Instalments |
|---|---|---|
| Limited | £3,095 |
£257.91 |
| Amber | £3,495 |
£291.25 |
| Pearl | £3,875 |
£322.91 |
| Diamond | £4,135 |
£344.58 |
Prices valid as at 15/12/2017.
Prices are subject to review by Dignity. If at the point of application the Plan price has changed for any reason, we will advise you of this before we set up your plan and there will be no obligation for you to continue. Longer fixed instalment terms are available provided that all payments over any instalment term longer than 12 months are completed by the 85th birthday of the eldest person named on the plan and the instalment term does not exceed the maximum term available. Plans purchased over a period greater than 12 months will incur an additional fee.
Payment methods include Credit or Debit Card, Cheque and Direct Debit. You can pay for your plan online, over the telephone by speaking with one of our advisors or, by enclosing payment with your paper application form.
All the money you pay for the Plan goes straight into the Trust Fund’s bank account. From the money held in the Trust:
We publish a Report on the National Funeral Trust annually and it is available upon request.
In the unlikely event that the Trust does not have enough money to cover the future cost of funeral services promised to Planholders, Dignity would still honour the guarantees made to Planholders. Dignity owns a nationwide network of Funeral Directors and crematoriums and even in extreme circumstances should still be able to meet the promises made to Planholders.
The money for your funeral would still be protected because it is legally separate from Dignity. In the unlikely event that we were to go out of business it may however mean that we would be unable to provide the funeral we had promised to provide. If this happened the Managing Trustees of the Trust would work with the remaining Nominated Funeral Directors, and where necessary seek to appoint new Nominated Funeral Directors, to continue to provide services to Planholders.
We are a registered provider with the Funeral Planning Authority and in this scenario other Registered Providers would co-operate in the delivery of the Authority’s “Pledge to Customers” by which the other Registered Providers will examine the ways in which they might assist in delivering the funerals of customers of the insolvent Registered Provider.
Once your Application Form has been received, your Plan will be set up within 14 days and you will be sent your Planholder Pack. This will contain confirmation of the Plan you have purchased, the amount you have paid, what is covered, details of the Funeral Director and how to claim. It will also contain a pack to be given to your Funeral Organiser
You must inform us so we can update our records. If you have moved to a new area we may need to allocate a new Nominated Funeral Director. There is no charge for this, as your Plan is portable, and all the Plan guarantees will still be honoured.
We will allocate a Funeral Director to your Plan, which we refer to as the Nominated Funeral Director. For the Amber, Pearl, and Diamond Plans there are over 1,200 Nominated Funeral Directors and for the Limited Plan there are approximately 800 Nominated Funeral Directors across the UK. If you would like to check if your Plan can be allocated to a specific Funeral Director please contact us before you purchase. We may change your Plan to a different Nominated Funeral Director if required.
If this were to happen, Dignity would re-allocate your Plan to a new Nominated Funeral Director. All the guarantees made in your Plan would still stand and you would not be charged any additional fees.
When the person who the Plan is for passes away the Funeral Organiser should telephone Dignity direct at any time 24 hours a day on 0800 587 2541. Alternatively you can call or visit the Nominated Funeral Director, whose contact details will be confirmed in the Planholder Pack.
If the Plan is not found until after the Planholder’s funeral is arranged, or if your Next of Kin or Executor chooses not to use the Plan, they can cancel the Plan and receive a refund of the original amount paid for the Plan less the £395 cancellation fee.
You can cancel your Plan at any time. To receive a full refund of any payments made you must cancel the Plan within 30 days from the date you receive your Planholder Pack and Agreement. We will charge a fee of £395 for cancellations after 30 days. Refunds will be completed within 14 days of the request being received.
If you wish to cancel your Plan tell us either by completing and returning the form included in the Planholder Pack we send you or otherwise tell us by:
Post: Dignity Pre Arrangement Limited, 4 King Edwards Court, King Edwards Square, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B73 6AP
Telephone: 0800 587 2541
Email: planinfo@dignityuk.co.uk
If you wish to complain please contact our Client Liaison Officer who will acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days and will do their utmost to ensure any complaint is dealt with as quickly as possible. Contact details are as follows:
Client Liaison Officer
4 King Edwards Court
King Edwards Square
Sutton Coldfield
West Midlands
B73 6AP
Telephone: 0800 731 0655
Email: clientrelations@dignityuk.co.uk
Dignity is a Registered Provider with the Funeral Planning Authority, the professional body that oversees the operation of registered funeral plan companies. If you are dissatisfied with the response from us you can make a complaint to them. Their details are:
The Dignity Prepaid Funeral Plan is not a regulated financial services product and as such is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority or covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
You also have access to an Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform which is provided by the European Commission. It allows consumers to submit complaints through the site and the complaint will then be allocated to an approved and appropriate Alternative Dispute Resolution Provider (ADR). For more information on this service please visit: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.
The Funeral Planning Authority when handling complaints uses one of the approved Alternative Dispute Resolution providers and you can gain direct access to them by using the FPA contact details provided above.
English law applies to this agreement.
This Key Features Summary applies to Dignity Prepaid Funeral Plans purchased from 15th December 2017.
If after reading this document you have any questions here are our contact details;
Post: Dignity Pre Arrangement Limited, 4 King Edwards Court, King Edwards Square, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands B73 6AP
Telephone: 0800 587 2541
Email: planinfo@dignityuk.co.uk
Please see the Plan Terms & Conditions for further details.
The Dignity Prepaid Funeral Plan (the 'Plan') provides the funeral services set out in the Limited Plan, Amber Plan, Pearl Plan and Diamond Plan as long as you make all of the payments in accordance with the details set out in your Plan.
Definitions
In these terms:
"Additional Special Requests Form" means the form, which we will send to you after we have received your Application for the Plan, which allows you to notify us of any alternative or additional Special Requests;
"Agreement" means the written agreement between us made up of the Application, the Funeral Plan Schedule, Funeral Plan Services Document, Key Features Summary and these Terms and Conditions;
"Application" means the Application form you have completed and either returned by post, submitted online via a website or portal or completed over the telephone;
"Funeral Plan Schedule" means the schedule setting out all the details of your Plan, which we will send to you once we have received your Application for the Plan;
"Funeral Plan Services Document" means the document setting out the details of the services which are guaranteed by the Plan, which we will send to you once we have received your Application for the Plan;
"Inflation" means a sustained increase in the general level of prices for goods and services measured as an annual percentage increase in line with the Retail Prices Index;
"Instalment Age Restriction" means the maximum instalment term you can pay your plan over to ensure all payments have been completed by the time the eldest person named on the plan reaches their 85th Birthday. The Instalment Age Restriction applies to any term paid over more than 12 months;
"Instalment Charge" means the additional payment included in the price of any Plan where instalments are being paid over a term beyond 12 months;
"Key Features Summary" means the document summarising the key features and benefits and exclusions and limitations of the Prepaid Funeral Plan to allow you to assess whether it meets your requirements;
"Nominated Funeral Director" means the funeral director, the details of which are set out in the Funeral Plan Schedule, or such other funeral director as we may appoint to carry out your chosen funeral;
"Planholder" means the person named in the Funeral Plan Schedule whose funeral is covered by this Plan;
"Personal Representative" means your Personal Representative(s) after your death, as defined by the Administration of Estates Act 1925;
"Plan" means the funeral Plan you have chosen, as governed by the Agreement;
"Price Guarantee" means the price guarantee in respect of the Nominated Funeral Director charges or any cremation funeral costs indicated as guaranteed in the Agreement;
"Special Requests" means any personal wishes as to how you would like your funeral performed which have been notified to us in your Application, Additional Special Requests Form, by email, in writing or over the telephone;
"Trust" means the Trust described in more detail in the "Care of your Money" section below;
"we" or "us" or "our" refer to Dignity Pre Arrangement Limited and our details are set out below; and
"you" or "your" or "applicant" means the person applying for the Plan.
Do You Qualify For This Plan?
This Plan is available to Planholders who are aged 50 or over at the date of application.
The Instalment Age Restriction means, at the point of applying for the funeral plan the age of the eldest person named on the plan could reduce the range of instalment options available.
This Plan covers the cost of certain funerals provided they are conducted in mainland Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Jersey, Isle of Man (Limited Plan not available on the Isle of Man) or Isle of Wight. The funeral must be conducted in the territories mentioned above. The Plan does not cover the costs of repatriation.
Your Plan
Payment
As the purchaser of this Plan, the rights and benefits set out in this Agreement accrue to you and you are responsible for making payments to us in accordance with this Agreement.
If you have named a different person as the Planholder on the Application, the rights and benefits set out in the Agreement will nevertheless accrue to you and not to the Planholder.
What the Plan Covers
What your Plan Includes
Subject to these Terms and Conditions, and as set out below, details of the services guaranteed by your Plan are set out in the Funeral Plan Services Document.
Once you have fully paid the amounts set out in the Plan, we promise to cover these goods and services at no further charge to your Personal Representative. This Price Guarantee only applies to the services set out in the ‘What the Plan Covers’ section.
Your Nominated Funeral Director
Your Plan covers the services of the Nominated Funeral Director to provide the goods and services described in your Agreement after receipt by us of the Application. If any of the goods or services, which are to be directly provided by the Nominated Funeral Director, are not available at the time of the funeral we will provide an alternative of at least equal quality and value at no further charge.
If your Personal Representative does not agree to the alternative arrangements, we may cancel the Plan and refund to your estate any monies due less a £395 cancellation fee.
We will appoint the Nominated Funeral Director to carry out your chosen funeral. If the Nominated Funeral Director cannot for any reason perform your funeral, we will appoint an alternative Nominated Funeral Director for you.
Please note that we reserve the right to appoint a different or new Nominated Funeral Director to carry out your chosen funeral for any reason. We will inform you before we do so.
Change of Address
The Plan provides for your funeral to be carried out by the Nominated Funeral Director. You must notify us at the address shown at the end of this document of any permanent change of address so that, if appropriate, we will appoint an alternative Nominated Funeral Director for you.
Cremation Services
If you choose or have chosen a cremation funeral as part of your Plan, the price you have paid for your Plan will cover;
1) The cremation fee charged by the crematorium. We reserve the right to select the crematorium used. This will usually be a crematorium close to and normally used by the Nominated Funeral Director. The cremation fee does not include any additional charges made by the crematorium, for example, any cost payable to the crematorium for use of an organist.
2) The Minister of Religion or an Officiant fee, equal to the amount paid for a standard funeral service at the crematorium or cemetery as listed in the Church of England Table of Parochial Fees.
In the unusual event that the Minister or Officiant charges more than this amount, then you or your Personal Representative will be responsible for paying that additional amount to the Nominated Funeral Director.
Burial Funeral
If you require a funeral with burial, your Nominated Funeral Director will arrange certain services which are provided by third parties, for example, the provision of a burial plot, digging a new plot or opening an existing grave, and cemetery fees and fees for a Minister of Religion or Officiant may also be payable. However, as the cost of these services varies widely throughout mainland Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Jersey, Isle of Man and Isle of Wight, therefore your Plan does not guarantee to cover these costs.
Your Plan contains a contribution towards these burial costs and other third party costs. The current rate is £1,220, which will rise in line with Inflation. We will advise your Personal Representative of the value of the burial contribution at the time of arranging the funeral.
If the contribution towards burial costs does not cover the actual burial costs in full your Personal Representative will be required to pay the additional sum at the time of the funeral. Where the actual burial cost is less than the value of the contribution towards burial costs, we will either repay the difference to your Personal Representative, or put it towards other funeral costs incurred at the time.
What the Plan Does Not Cover
The Plan includes the services described in the Funeral Plan Schedule, which forms part of the Agreement.
The cost for other services, for example a memorial, headstone, flowers, and catering are not included in the Plan. If you have purchased an Amber, Pearl or Diamond Plan and you would like to make a provision for services not already included in your Plan you may do so by making a contribution towards these costs. We will then make sure the value of that contribution increases in line with Inflation.
However, if that contribution does not cover the then current rate for those goods or services, you or your Personal Representative must pay the difference between the value of your contribution (adjusted for Inflation) and the actual cost at the time of the funeral. Where the actual cost is less than the value of your contribution we will repay that difference to you or your Personal Representative.
Any fees payable to doctors or a coroner for the issue of death or cremation medical certificates, or coroner’s certificates will not be included in your Plan and if they are charged for they will need to be paid for separately at the time of the funeral.
Your Special Requests
You may ask for Special Requests for your funeral, but if these incur additional costs they will fall outside the Plan and will not be covered by the Price Guarantee. Once you have notified us of any Special Requests, we will send you a Special Requests Certificate confirming these Special Requests. Your Special Requests will be used as a guide for your Personal Representative and the Nominated Funeral Director. If you have an Amber, Pearl or Diamond Plan you are entitled to make a contribution payment towards the cost of any Special Requests and any contribution you do pay towards Special Requests will be increased each year in line with RPI inflation. But we do not guarantee that your contributions will cover the cost of all of the Special Requests. If you have a Limited Plan you may not make contribution payments towards the costs of any Special Requests. Your Personal Representative will be advised of the value of this contribution at the time of arranging the funeral. If you have any queries please call Dignity Pre Arrangement Limited on 0800 587 2541.
There are a number of common requests which incur additional costs which are not included in the Plan. These might include (but are not limited to):
Extra Charges
Save in respect of any service specified as paid for in the Agreement we may charge reasonable extra amounts for the following requirements:
Repatriation and Transport
This Plan does not cover the costs of repatriation from outside mainland Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Jersey, Isle of Wight and Isle of Man (Limited Plan not available on the Isle of Man) to the Nominated Funeral Director.
If we need to transport the Planholder to or from a distance of more than 50 miles of the proposed funeral site, crematorium or burial place or if we need to incur ferry or air fares, we may charge you reasonable additional costs, less any contribution towards the cost of travel specified in your Plan.
Care Of Your Money
All payments you make are passed to the Royal Exchange Trust Company Limited as custodian trustee of the National Funeral Trust (the "Trust") to be held in accordance with the Trust deed of the Trust. Following the transfer of Royal Exchange Trust Company Limited to Link Group, some activities are carried out by Link Corporate Trustees (UK) Limited. under a Power of Attorney.
Payments are made out of the Trust to us for funerals when they are performed, and for the cost of offering, selling and administering the Plans, and for refunds to purchasers of the Plan.
Instalment Payments
If you choose to pay for your Prepaid Funeral Plan by instalments the following rules will apply:
For instalments of more than 12 months
Where instalments are being paid over a term beyond 12 months an Instalment Charge is required because the Trust does not have all the money to invest at the Plans inception.
The Instalment Age Restriction means that for an instalment term of more than 12 months, all payments must have been completed by the time the eldest person named on the Plan reaches their 85th Birthday.
If the Planholder dies before all of the instalment payments for the Plan have been paid
We will provide the funeral in accordance with this Agreement. However, your Personal Representative will be responsible for paying the outstanding instalments due. The outstanding instalments must be paid for in full before the funeral takes place.
If you fail to pay all of your instalment payments
If any instalment is not paid within 60 days of its due date, the Price Guarantee in your Plan will lapse. However, provided that the Plan has not been cancelled, your Personal Representative may request, and we may agree, to arrange for the funeral to be carried out by the Nominated Funeral Director. The cost of the funeral will then be charged at the Nominated Funeral Director’s then current market rate and we will credit any instalment payments already made towards the cost of the funeral.
For these purposes the value of the payments made will be increased annually in line with Inflation, from the date on which the Price Guarantee has lapsed to the date of the funeral. Your Personal Representative will be liable to pay the difference between the amounts paid (subject to Inflation) and any outstanding amount to the Nominated Funeral Director.
If any instalment is not paid within 60 days of its due date and the Plan has not been cancelled, you may reinstate the Plan by restarting payment. However, the total amount payable for the Plan will be increased to the then current price of the Plan you have chosen. We will take account of payments already received, increased by Inflation from the date the Plan lapsed, and we will adjust future instalments accordingly.
Cancellation
You have 30 days from the date you receive your Agreement to decide that the arrangements you have made meet your requirements and that you do not wish to cancel your Plan. If you do decide to cancel your Plan, you must:
Any notification of cancellation should specify all of the following details: (i) the Plan number; (ii) the full name and address of the Planholder (iii) the Planholder's date of birth; and (iv) a telephone number and/or email address for contact purposes should there be any issue with the cancellation. There will be additional security questions where the Plan is cancelled by telephone or by e-mail.
Provided we receive such notification within 30 days of entering into the Agreement, we will refund all the money you have paid within 14 days of us receiving notification of cancellation.
If you wish to cancel your Plan after the Cancellation Period, we will refund any money you have paid, less a cancellation fee of £395, within 14 days of us receiving notification of cancellation. In the event that the Plan is not used and cancellation is requested after the death of the Planholder we may require additional information from the person cancelling the Plan before we can complete the cancellation.
Any refund will be made to the person who originally paid for the Plan or to the Planholder’s estate.
We may cancel your Plan by giving notice to you if:
If we cancel the Plan, we will refund any money you have paid, less the £395 cancellation fee, and we will have no further obligations to provide the benefits set out in the Plan. The Plan is designed to cover funeral costs and is not an investment product, and we will not pay interest on money refunded.
Value Added Tax ("VAT")
VAT is not currently charged on a funeral service. However, if VAT or any other form of tax becomes chargeable on a funeral service or part of it in the future, you or your Personal Representative must pay the VAT or additional tax at the time of the funeral.
If you are paying for any Special Request as part of your Plan then any third party suppliers who provide those goods or services may charge VAT, which we will pay and recover from you, or your Personal Representative.
The Agreement
Once we have confirmed your Application for the Plan, the following documents all make up the Agreement:
Please keep these documents in a safe place for the attention of your Personal Representative. You are advised to discuss your funeral arrangements with the person who will be your Personal Representative.
These documents together make up the Agreement concerning your funeral arrangements. Anything which is not documented in writing in the Agreement will not be effective. If there is any ambiguity between the documents, the terms set out in this document take precedence over the others. English law shall apply to this Agreement. If anything in this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, then this Agreement will be interpreted as if that part were modified or deleted to make it valid and enforceable, and the rest shall remain in force.
If we fail to exercise or delay in enforcing our rights (such as our right to cancel the Plan in the event of unpaid instalments), such failure or delay will not restrict our rights to do so, and a waiver of any such rights or of any breach of any term will not be deemed to be a waiver of any other right or any later breach.
You may propose a change to the Plan, but no change will take effect unless it is agreed in writing. If you wish to change your Plan then this will take effect through a new Agreement. Please call Dignity Pre Arrangement Limited on 0800 587 2541 if you wish to change the terms of your Plan.
The Agreement is personal to you and may not be assigned (transferred) or made the subject of any trust, mortgage or charge given as security for any obligation to any third party. Only you or your Personal Representative is entitled to claim the rights or benefits set out in this Agreement. The Nominated Funeral Director may also claim the rights or benefits set out in this Agreement. Otherwise, no other person (including the Planholder or their Personal Representatives) has any right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this Agreement. This does not affect any other rights these people may have. These Terms and Conditions apply to all Plans entered into from 15/12/2017.
How To Make A Complaint
We make every effort to excel in the service we provide. However, if you feel we have not met your expectations, please contact our Client Liaison Officer who will acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days and will do their utmost to ensure any complaint is dealt with as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Contact details are as follows:
Client Liaison Officer
4 King Edwards Court
King Edwards Square
Sutton Coldfield
West Midlands
B73 6AP
Telephone: 0800 731 0655
Email: clientrelations@dignityuk.co.uk
If you are dissatisfied with the response from us you can take the matter further. Dignity Pre Arrangement Limited is registered with the Funeral Planning Authority (FPA), an independent organisation whose Code of Practice we follow.
The FPA can be contacted by;
You also have access to an Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform which is provided by the European Commission. It allows consumers to submit complaints through the site and the complaint will then be allocated to an approved and appropriate Alternative Dispute Resolution Provider (ADR). For more information on this service please visit http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr
The Funeral Planning Authority when handling complaints uses one of the approved Alternative Dispute Resolution providers and you can gain direct access to them by using the FPA contact details provided above.
Instruction to your Bank or Building Society to pay by Direct Debit
4 King Edwards Court
King Edwards Square
Sutton Coldfield
West Midlands
B73 6AP
Address
920149
Please pay Link Corporate Trustees (UK) Limited Re National Funeral Trust Direct Debits from the account detailed in this Instruction subject to the safeguards assured by the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this Instruction may remain with Link Corporate Trustees (UK) Limited Re National Funeral Trust and, if so, details will be passed electronically to my bank/building society.
Date: