We are very aware of the recent media coverage covering pre-paid funeral plans and the imminent arrival of statutory regulation by the FCA. It is understandable that customers will be wanting to be informed about where Golden Leaves are in our journey to date and of course, what is to be expected after regulation arrives.
From the 29th of July 2022 the pre-paid plan market will be directly regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and any company selling plans must be directly authorised by the FCA or be an Appointed Representative of that authorised company.
Here at Golden Leaves Funeral Plans, we submitted our application for authorisation by the FCA on the 21st of October 2021 and we are working directly with the FCA to progress it. We are confident that we will be authorised by the deadline of the 29th of July 2022.
The new regulations will ensure industry wide adherence to a comprehensive set of compulsory statutory rules that a will demand a superior quality of service and financial resilience from all companies. As Golden Leaves is the only independent company in the market to be BSI 9001 AND Customer Service Kitemark accredited, this level of professional excellence will be a further extension of the quality service that all Golden Leaves customers have already come to expect.
Golden Leaves Funeral Plans began its regulatory journey over 20 years ago, driving best practice and customer facing principles of conduct by being a founding member of the FPA (the voluntary regulatory body that currently oversees the market). Becoming directly regulated by the FCA, we view as being just another phase in our journey.
We welcome the arrival of FCA regulation as it will ensure better outcomes for clients, ensure that all products are sold correctly and deliver value for money.
It will ensure that all plans are distributed by companies that will have to adhere to the same level of high-quality standards, for the benefit of consumers.
If you do require any further information do email barry.floyd@goldenleaves.com or alternatively if you wish to know the status of funeral panning companies’ applications, please visit https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/funeral-plans/
The Trustees very much welcome the government’s announcement on 2nd June, 2019 that it plans to introduce statutory regulation of the pre-paid funeral plan market and that the sector will be directly regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
This announcement followed a consultation last summer which detected high pressure sales tactics used by plan providers and their intermediaries. Cold calling was found to be of a “particular concern” in the funeral planning industry, which is currently voluntarily regulated by the Funeral Planning Authority.
Golden Leaves Limited already operate at the highest professional standards within this sector and recently acquired the BSI ISO:9001 which is a standard that sets out the requirements to help organisations ensure that they meet the needs of their customers.
Golden Leaves are justifiably proud that they are the only independent funeral planning company operating in the sector to hold such a quality standard, adding this to their ever growing list of quality credentials clearly demonstrates their desire to deliver business operational excellence as standard.
