Although the vast majority of people who make their funeral plan in advance never want to change it once they have got it sorted out, we want you to feel that you can change your plan whenever you need, or want, to.

The type of changes that you can make fall into one of three categories: changes that you can make yourself online; other changes that leave your plan number unchanged; and changes that result in a new plan number being issued.

Each is explained below.

Changes that you can do yourself online

There are quite a lot of changes that you can make online for yourself. They are easy to do, and they don’t cost anything.

This includes changes to any of the following:

Ceremony Leader
‘Rule’ for Flowers (e.g. Family flowers only, flowers welcome, etc.)
Donations in Memory (whether you want them, and to which cause)
Music Choices
Readings Choices
Ashes (what you want to happen to them)
Any Other Wishes

and, if you have a fixed allowance in your plan for Standard Disbursements:

Form of funeral (i.e. Cremation, Burial, or Woodland Burial)
Type of Ceremony or Service (e.g. Religious, Semi-Religious, etc.)
Venue for Ceremony or Service

All that you need to do is to select the ‘My Plans’ page and click on the plan number of the plan that you want to edit. Then make whatever changes that you want to make to any of the above items and re-save your plan. It’s as simple as that.

You can make these changes as many times as you like. So if, for example, you have decided on one piece of music that you like, and you are still looking into the name of another piece, you can add the details of the one now, and come back at a later time and add the details of the other.

When you’ve made these changes, your plan will still have the same plan number as it had before, and you can make a print-out of your new plan details.

Other changes that leave your plan number unchanged

Moving address within the same county

All you need to do is to drop us a line, by post or by e-mail, or give us a ring, to let us know your new address and when you are moving.

There’s no charge and all your plan guarantees remain as before. We will update your address details on the system.

Moving address to a different county but still in the same price zone

If you are moving to a different county, but that county is still in the same price zone as the county that you are moving from (ask us if you’re not sure), again you will need to let us know your new address and when you’re moving.

You might also find it a good idea to check your plan details and see if anything else needs to be edited because it was based on your old address - for example, the name of the church or crematorium that you wanted to use.

Again, there’s no charge and all your plan guarantees remain as before. We will update your address details on the system.

Changes that result in a new plan number

If you want to make changes to your plan that have cost implications, it will be necessary for us to give you a new plan number. These sorts of changes will only come into force when you have sent us the means of payment (where your new plan costs more than the old one) or when you have returned us your original plan certificate (if we are making a partial refund to you) (see Terms and Conditions for more details).

The first time that you make changes to your plan that require a new plan number to be issued, there is no additional admin charge payable. However, on all future occasions that require a new plan number, the standard admin fee payable for making changes at the time that the changes are made, will be added to the costs of the change.

Picking different priced options

You may decide, for example, that you want to change the type of coffin that you’ve picked, or the type of transport. Select the ‘My Plans’ page and pick the plan that you want to change.

As you go through the choices pages, you will see prices against all the costed options. These prices are the additional costs to you of picking those options (negative numbers indicate those options that cost less than your original choice(s)). When you are happy with the new choices that you have made, and have checked the plan summary, you can then proceed to ‘buy’ the plan as changed.

If there is a balance to pay, you will be given the choice of lump sum or, in the case of relatively large balances, instalment payments. (Money that you have already paid towards your original plan will be automatically taken into account in the calculations.)

If the revised plan costs less than your original one, you can either opt to have a refund, if one is due, or leave the balance in the plan as an extra allowance against disbursement costs (see Terms and Conditions).

Moving address to a different price zone

If you are moving address to a different price zone, it is very important that you let us know (by post, phone or e-mail) as soon as possible as it could affect the guarantees that are included in your plan.

If you are moving to a price zone where the charges are lower, you can either opt to have a refund, if one is due, or leave the balance in the plan as an extra allowance against disbursement costs.

If you are moving to a price zone that has higher funeral charges, you can opt to pay the difference due (by lump sum or instalments) and retain all your guarantees, or to leave the funds in the plan at the level that they are. If you take this second option, your guarantees will no longer be valid but the amount of money that you have paid in will continue to grow and will be used towards your funeral costs.

As well as contacting us, you should also take the opportunity to log on to the system to check your plan details. There may be some options that need to be edited because they were based on your old address - for example, the name of the church or crematorium that you wanted to use.

Back