GOLDEN LEAVES LIMITED
Bespoke · Copper · FRN 960923
£1,700
Single payment
- Third-party costs
- Not stated on the page
Prepaid funeral plans
What a funeral plan costs, against what a funeral costs.
Across 2,890 UK funeral directors' published CMA price lists captured by Funeral Cost Index, the median direct cremation is £1,545 (range £712–£2,997) and the median attended cremation is £2,895 before the crematorium fee, captured to 15 September 2026.
That is the figure a prepaid plan has to be judged against, and it is the one plan sellers are least likely to put beside their own price. Every plan price on this page is captured from an FCA-authorised provider’s own published page, with the source and the capture date kept on the row.
Plan price against at-need price
The median published plan price for each tier, beside the median price captured from funeral directors’ CMA Standardised Price Lists for the nearest equivalent service. The two are not always like for like, and where they are not, the row says so.
| Plan tier | Median plan price | Median at need | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct cremation plan The closest like-for-like comparison on this site. The CMA requires a published direct cremation price to include the cremation fee, a simple coffin, transport and the return of ashes — broadly what a direct cremation plan covers. | £1,950 | £1,545 | 1 plan · 2,890 at need |
| Simple attended plan Not like for like. The at-need figure is the funeral director's charge only — the crematorium fee, doctors' and celebrant fees are paid separately on top. A plan price usually bundles a capped contribution toward those, so the plan covers more than the figure beside it. | Not yet captured | £2,895 | 0 plans · 3,344 at need |
| Standard attended plan Not like for like. The at-need figure is the funeral director's charge only — the crematorium fee, doctors' and celebrant fees are paid separately on top. A plan price usually bundles a capped contribution toward those, so the plan covers more than the figure beside it. | Not yet captured | £2,895 | 0 plans · 3,344 at need |
| Burial plan Not like for like, and the gap is widest here. The at-need figure is the funeral director's charge only; burial fees and the purchase of the grave itself are separate and are the largest part of a burial's cost. Almost no plan covers the grave. | Not yet captured | not captured | 0 plans · 0 at need |
At-need medians captured to 15 September 2026 from providers’ own published CMA Standardised Price Lists. See methodology.
Published plan prices
5 plans from 2 FCA-authorised providers. 0 cost more when paid monthly than in one payment; 0 publish a capped allowance toward third-party costs rather than guaranteeing them.
Golden Charter Limited
Direct cremation · Direct Cremation Plan · FRN 965279
£1,950
Single payment
- Third-party costs
- Not stated on the page
GOLDEN LEAVES LIMITED
Bespoke · Copper+ · FRN 960923
£2,449
Single payment
- Third-party costs
- Not stated on the page
GOLDEN LEAVES LIMITED
Bespoke · Silver · FRN 960923
£3,725
Single payment
- Third-party costs
- Not stated on the page
GOLDEN LEAVES LIMITED
Bespoke · Gold · FRN 960923
£4,135
Single payment
- Third-party costs
- Not stated on the page
How to read a plan price
Check the register first. Since 29 July 2022 the FCA has regulated the sale of pre-paid funeral plans, and selling one without authorisation is a criminal offence. Every row here links to the provider’s entry on the Financial Services Register. Check it there rather than taking the firm’s word for it.
Paying monthly usually costs more. Instalment terms are quoted as a monthly figure and the total is rarely printed beside the single payment. Where both are published, this page multiplies them out and shows the difference.
Find out what is guaranteed and what is merely allowed for. Most plans guarantee the funeral director’s own services and put a capped contribution toward third-party costs — the cremation fee, doctors’ and celebrant fees. If that allowance has not kept pace by the time the plan is used, the family pays the difference. It is the single most common reason a plan does not cover the funeral it was bought for.
Compare against today’s price. A plan is worth buying when it is priced close to the current cost of the funeral it covers. Use the published prices near you rather than a national average — the spread between council areas is wide enough to change the answer.
Planning ahead usually means more than the funeral. Published solicitor fees for a will and a lasting power of attorney sit alongside this section, and probate fees cover what happens afterwards.
Common questions
- How much does a prepaid funeral plan cost in the UK?
- Across 5 published plan prices captured from FCA-authorised providers by Funeral Cost Index, plans run from £1,700 to £4,135 as a single payment, captured to 7 September 2026. The figure that decides whether a plan is worth buying is not the plan price on its own but how it compares with the funeral it covers: the median direct cremation captured from 2,890 funeral directors' CMA price lists is £1,545.
- Are prepaid funeral plans regulated?
- Yes. Since 29 July 2022 the Financial Conduct Authority has regulated the sale and administration of UK pre-paid funeral plans. Authorised providers must hold customers' money in a ring-fenced trust or an insurance policy, offer Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection, and follow FCA conduct rules; cold-calling and commission-based selling are banned, and selling a plan without authorisation is a criminal offence. Check any provider on the FCA Financial Services Register before buying — a firm's own website saying it is regulated is the firm's claim, not the register's.
- Is a funeral plan cheaper than paying at the time?
- Not automatically. A plan fixes the price of the services it covers at today's rate, which is worth having if prices rise faster than the return on money set aside instead. The test is arithmetic: compare the plan's single payment with the current published price of the same funeral. The median direct cremation captured from UK funeral directors' CMA price lists is £1,545 and the median attended cremation is £2,895 before the crematorium fee, captured to 15 September 2026. A plan priced well above those is buying certainty, not a lower cost.
- What is not covered by a funeral plan?
- The usual gap is third-party costs — the cremation or burial fee, doctors' fees and the celebrant or minister. Many plans guarantee only the funeral director's own services and put a capped allowance toward the rest, and where that allowance has not kept pace the family meets the shortfall at the time. Burial plans rarely include the purchase of the grave, which is normally the largest single cost of a burial. The plan's own summary document states which of these it guarantees and which it merely contributes toward.