Funeral Plan Terms and conditions

When you take out a funeral plan, you agree to the Terms and Conditions below. These give you certain legal protections - and peace of mind that we'll do what we promise. Please read them carefully before signing the declaration.

When you take out a Funeral Plan, you agree to the Terms and Conditions below. These give you certain legal protections and peace of mind. Please read the key features document and the terms and conditions carefully before signing the declaration.

1. Issuing your Funeral Plan Certificate

The East of England Co-op Funeral Service (‘the Society’) will issue your Funeral Plan Certificate only after you have paid for it in full. If your Funeral Plan Certificate is lost or destroyed, please tell the Society immediately in writing to the address in point 2 below. We will then issue a duplicate. Your Funeral Plan certificate will include a breakdown of what is included.

2. Change of address

If you or the Plan Holder’s personal or address details change, please inform the East of England Co-op Funeral Services in writing within 60 days. Please advise us by writing to:

The East of England Co-op Funeral Services
Wherstead Park, The Street, Wherstead, Ipswich, Suffolk IP9 2BJ

3. Funeral Plan monies

All money (which excludes £250 administration fee) you pay to the Society towards your chosen Funeral Plan will be deposited with Royal London Group, which is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

4. If you miss any agreed payment

If you miss a payment you will have 30 days in which to make it. If you pay within this time, your selected Plan will remain in place. If you don’t, we may cancel your Plan and return the money you have already paid towards it, minus a cancellation charge of £250. If you haven’t paid enough money into your Plan to cover this charge, we may ask you to pay the balance. To avoid missing payments, we recommend paying all instalments by direct debit.

5. Changes or additions to your Funeral Plan (excludes Without Ceremony Plan)

If you ask the Society to change or add to your Funeral Plan, we will charge for the new arrangements at the prices in force at the time of your request. Any changes become binding on the Society only when we accept them in writing and any additional fees are paid for. No changes to the services in a Funeral Plan can be made following the death of the Plan Holder, either before or during the arrangement of their funeral. In the event of the Plan Holders Representative choosing not to use any of the services included in the Plan, these are non-refundable. Additional services; not included in the Plan, will be charged at the prices in force at the time of need.

6. Funerals in Great Britain and Abroad

Your Funeral Plan is valid only for funerals conducted on the mainland of Great Britain. If death takes place or you require a funeral outside Great Britain, then we reserve the right to either refund the cost of your Funeral Plan minus a cancellation charge of £250 without further obligation, or carry out the funeral for an additional fee. Our commitment to transport the deceased any distance within mainland Great Britain is based on the assumption that death takes place at/near to the address of the deceased, as provided on this application form.

7. Availability

If certain arrangements, products or services – such as coffin type, memorial materials or design, location of ceremony, or choice of personnel – become unavailable, we will provide reasonable alternative products, services or locations. 

8. Changed circumstances

We make every effort to provide the arrangements you choose, but changes in your circumstances may affect the availability of some arrangements. If this happens, we may need to instruct another Co-operative Funeral Service to conduct those arrangements on our behalf. 

9. Cancellation period

After signing the declaration below, you have 30 days in which to cancel your Plan with no further obligation. If you wish to cancel the Plan after this period, please let the Society know in writing and we will repay all money you have paid towards your Funeral Plan – minus a cancellation charge of £250. If you haven’t paid enough money into your Plan to cover this charge, we may ask you to pay the balance. To avoid missing payments, we recommend paying all instalments by Direct Debit.

10. Complaints procedure

If you have any complaints, please talk to us first and we will do what we can to resolve matters. If you prefer you can write to us at:

The East of England Co-op Funeral Services
Wherstead Park, The Street, Wherstead, Ipswich, Suffolk IP9 2BJ

If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction after contacting the Society, you have the right to take it to the Funeral Planning Authority.

11. Redeeming your Funeral Plan

On death of the person for whom the Plan is for, you (or those legally entitled to represent the deceased) must present the Funeral Plan Certificate to the Society when confirming the funeral arrangements. We are not obliged to provide funeral arrangements until the Plan is paid in full and a Funeral Plan Certificate has been issued. 

12. Part payment of your Funeral Plan

If on death, the full cost of the Funeral Plan has not been paid, you (or those legally entitled to represent the deceased) may make the outstanding payment as a lump sum. If this is done, a Funeral Plan Certificate will be issued and will be accepted as if full payment had been made at the time of death. Alternatively you may cancel the Plan and all monies paid will be refunded subject to a £250 cancellation charge.

13. Unclaimed money and unredeemed plans

If the Plan has not been redeemed by the Plan Holder’s 110th birthday, or we have been told that you or the Plan Holder has died, we may write to the last held address to find out whether you intend to redeem the Plan. If we do not hear back from you within 56 days, we have the right to cancel the Plan and may keep any payments made.

14. General

Together these Terms and Conditions and your Funeral Plan Application, form the entire agreement between you and the Society regarding your Funeral Plan and the funeral arrangements to which they refer. If any part of that agreement proves ineffective the remainder shall not be prejudiced. This agreement shall be governed by English law.

Declaration

I hereby apply for an East of England Co-operative Society Funeral Plan to be issued in respect of the funeral arrangements I have chosen. I understand the Funeral Plan Certificate will be issued only when I have paid the full cost of my chosen Plan, which will be subject to the Terms and Conditions above.

Data Protection Act 

The information on this application will be held by East of England Co-operative Society Limited in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act for the purpose of administration, business analysis and marketing. If you would prefer not to receive marketing information from the East of England Co-operative please email customersupport@eastofengland.coop.

We will pass details to Royal London Group as joint data controller to enable them to effectively manage the funds on behalf of the person for whom the funeral is being arranged. Royal London Group will take it that the consent of the person for whom the plan has been purchased has been obtained by the applicant.