Prepaid funeral plans
A prepaid funeral plan is an easy way to arrange the funeral you want in advance. We work with Golden Charter, one of the UK’s largest funeral plan providers (1) to provide you with a plan that can bring peace of mind to you and your family.
Let us help you
What is a funeral plan?
A funeral plan is a product that allows you to pre-arrange and pre-pay for your funeral in advance. You pay a fixed cost for the services included in the plan you have chosen. You can pay for the funeral plan in either a lump sum payment or in instalments.
What are the benefits of a funeral plan?
Funeral plans can help to protect loved ones from funeral costs, help them with the arrangements and ensure your funeral wishes are met.
Protect loved ones from rising funeral costs
By taking care of funeral costs in advance with a pre-paid funeral plan, you can enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing you’ve helped save your family from the worry of funeral costs and arrangements.
It’s worth bearing in mind that different plans provide different levels of service, so there may be some additional costs for your loved ones to pay at the time if they want to add on additional services.
Reduce the number of decisions your loved ones will have to make
By deciding on the funeral arrangements you want in advance, you can protect loved ones from the stress of having to decide what kind of funeral you would have wanted, at the same time as having to deal with their own grief.
Ensure your wishes are met
By deciding on the funeral arrangements you want in advance, and paying for them with a pre-paid funeral, you can ensure that your funeral wishes will be met when the time comes.
Let Bartholomew’s help you with your funeral plan
As an independently owned funeral director, we’ll take the time to understand your wishes and tailor a plan to suit you.
We can discuss these at our premises or in your home, at a time that is convenient for you. If you’d prefer to discuss this over the phone or via email, we can assist with this too.
You can tell us about any preferences you have in mind – the type of funeral you would like to have, hymns, music or any other personal touches – and we’ll make sure your plan takes these into account.
What’s 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:
- Professional services and making arrangements for the funeral
- Transportation of the deceased from the place of death to our premises, chapel of rest or other suitable location
- Care of the deceased and preparations for family viewing if requested
- Advice on the certification and registration of death and related documentation
- Provision of funeral vehicles
- Advice on bereavement counselling
- Coffin or casket requested
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:
- Crematorium fee
- Minister or officiant’s fee
- Cemetery fee: the opening of a new or existing grave for burial or interment of cremated remains
Other third-party costs that may be associated with a funeral include:
- Purchase of grave or lair
- Hire of the church or another venue
- Fees for organist or soloist
- Memorial, such as a headstone, entry in a book of remembrance, or the planting of a tree
- Catering, floral tributes and newspaper announcements
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
We work with Golden Charter, one of the UK’s largest funeral plan providers (1) to provide you with a plan that can bring peace of mind to you and your family.
With a Golden Charter funeral plan, you can pay for your plan in several ways.
Spread the cost or make a one-off payment – simply choose the one that’s right for you. We will provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision.
The retail price of your funeral plan is representative of the equivalent cost of a funeral today plus an arrangement fee of £325 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 £1.2 billion under management, (2) 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
As a Golden Charter plan holder, you’ll receive personalised plan documents, which include a summary of your plan, our details, your plan holder certificate and a personal membership card for you to carry in your purse or wallet.
You can add a nominated representative to your plan if you wish to do so. 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.
- Based on Golden Charter analysis and independent research of funeral plan market size, as at May 2024.
- Confirmed by Golden Charter Trust’s audited accounts at 31 March 2024.
BARTHOLOMEW AND SONS LTD trading as Bartholomew & Sons (Maltby) & Bartholomew & Sons 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).
Let us help you
Call us today on 01709 363 706 to find out more about our funeral plans.