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Funeral plan provider Golden Charter has welcomed the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s finalised rules for the funeral planning industry published last week.
As part of the ruling, the FCA will formally regulate the funeral planning sector from 29 July of next year.
The new rules also ban cold-calling potential clients and require all payments to be made directly to the plan provider, providing additional financial protection for consumers.
The funeral group stated that it embraced the criteria being introduced to ensure fair practice and that consumer protection remains “top priority” within the sector.
Suzanne Grahame, CEO of Golden Charter, said: “The FCA’s new rules focus on putting customers first – a guiding value for independent funeral directors across the UK, and something that they already do brilliantly each day.
“To help ensure that funeral plans always put the customer first, the FCA requires that funeral planning products will meet consumer’s needs, are sold transparently and represent fair value.”
She added: “A major benefit of funeral planning is that it eases the burden on families at a difficult time. Regulation adds further assurance to both the plan holder and their family that through their funeral plan their wishes will be fully looked after – and that’s only a good thing.”
