What is a pre-paid funeral plan?
A funeral plan is an easy way to arrange the funeral you want in advance. A plan allows you to specify your wishes and pay for the funeral director’s services included in your plan. As customers often tell us, that can bring peace of mind to you and your family. A plan from Golden Charter also includes an allowance towards third party costs. These are essential, non-funeral director services such as the cremation or burial fees, plus the minister or officiant’s fee to perform the service.
At Head & Wheble Funeral Directors, we work in partnership with Golden Charter to provide you with a simple way to plan ahead. As one of the UK’s largest funeral plan providers (1), Golden Charter has helped nearly 1 million people to plan ahead (2), so we’re completely confident in offering their plans to you. Everyone has different needs when it comes to funeral planning, so we make sure the plans we offer are as flexible as possible. When you get in touch, we’ll be happy to discuss your funeral requirements and tailor a plan to suit you. Rest assured a plan from Golden Charter is available to all UK residents regardless of age or state of health.
a pre-paid funeral plan to suit your needs
whats included in a pre-paid funeral plan?
Our funeral director’s services will be covered in your funeral plan, which means our fees will be fixed at today’s prices and protected against rising costs. These services typically include:
Although a pre-paid funeral plan can cover all of the services above, there are some additional third party costs to consider. These are the costs for essential, non-funeral director services required to carry out a cremation or burial which need to be paid at the time of the funeral. These costs are outside our control. Depending on the plan type chosen, a Golden Charter funeral plan can include a contribution towards some third party costs. They may include:
There will only be more to pay at the time of the funeral if the third party costs exceed the allowance when you buy your plan, or if the costs increase by more than the growth of your plan.
However, even if prices rise in the future, you’ll have the reassurance of knowing there’ll be nothing more to pay for our funeral director’s services included in the plan once your plan is fully paid for – guaranteed.
Payment options to suit you
The retail price of your funeral plan is representative of the equivalent cost of a funeral today plus an arrangement fee of £350 which is retained by Golden Charter to help cover the costs of setting up your plan.
Your payments are held within the Golden Charter Trust. With almost £1.21 billion under management (3), the Trust is operated by a Board of Trustees, completely independent of Golden Charter. Their role is to hold your payments and ensure that the funeral director services in your plan can be paid for at the time they are required – however far into the future that may be. For more information on how your payments are protected, please visit goldencharter.co.uk/faqs
looking after you as a customer
Your nominated representative will receive a letter which will provide details of your plan and our details, as your chosen funeral director. They will have no authority to make changes to your plan. You’ll also receive a statement from Golden Charter every three years which will be sent via post. As your funeral director, we’ll hold full details of your funeral plan. When the time comes, one phone call is all it takes to activate your plan and get the arrangements underway.
ready to take the next step? get in touch today
1).Based on a Golden Charter analysis and independent research of the funeral plan market size as at December 2024.
2).Correct at July 2025.
3).Confirmed by Golden Charter Trust’s audited accounts at 31 March 2025
Simon Phillip Robert Head trading as Head & Wheble Funeral Directors is an appointed representative of Golden Charter Limited trading as Golden Charter Funeral Plans which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN:965279).
testimonials
