Co Op Funeral Plan Reviews

Everything you need to know about a Co Op Funeral plan

Below is a detailed review, along with everything you need to know about taking out a funeral plan with co op in the UK

Different Co op Funeral Plans On Offer

Below is a guide to the different plans that co op offer, their price point and any important information you need to consider

Notes on the cost of funeral plans:

• A doctors Fee (£164) is only required for cremation, not burial. Doctors’ fees are usually not covered by the plan as these can go up over time
• Other fees (or defined third party fees when using co-op) are those that are not performed by a funeral director. These are either included in the plan or a set amount of money is allocated to cover them, which means that there might be extra money to pay if the cost of them rises over time.

	Simple	Bronze	Silver	Gold
Price	£3,225. Member price £3,150 (£75 saving).	£3,735. Member price £3,610 (£125 saving).	£4,150. Member price £4,025 (£125 saving).	£4,460. Member price £4,335 (£125 saving).
Coffin included	Basic coffin.	Non-premium wood effect coffin, for example maple.	Mid-range wood effect coffin, for example rosewood or cherry wood.	Premium wood veneer coffin in traditional or light oak finish.
Constraints on date and time of funeral	Date and time will be decided by Co-op.	More flexibility than the Simple plan, but still restricted times and dates.	No, the family can decide any time or date available.	No, the family can decide any time or date available.
Constraints on when relations can visit the chapel of rest	Yes. Only during normal working hours with a pre-arranged appointment.	Yes. Only during normal working hours with a pre-arranged appointment.	No. Visits accommodated any time.	No. Visits accommodated any time.
Cortege included?	Yes, fixed route.	Family can choose a route.	Family can choose a route.	Family can choose a route.
Pallbearers included?	No.  A wheeled bier will be provided or family and friends can act as Pallbearers.	Yes.	Yes.	Yes.
Limousine included?	No.	No.	Yes, one.	Yes, two.
Hearse included?	No, another vehicle is used by the funeral directors.	Yes.	Yes.	Yes.
Are cremation or burial fees included?	A £850 contribution by Co-op is provided under this plan to cover the third-party fees (see below)	Cremation fees are guaranteed. or  A £1,000 contribution for burial is provided by Co-op under this plan (see third-party fees below)	Cremation or Burial costs are guaranteed (see third-party fees below)	Cremation or Burial costs are guaranteed (see third-party fees below)
Any extras	No.	No.	No.	Yes, a Memorial Canvas or item of equivalent value.

Third-party fees for cremation include: cremation fee & officiant fees at the cremation service
Third-party fees for burial include: burial/internment fee, grave digging fee & officiants fee at cemetery or church

None of the plans above cover:
– a doctor’s fee (required for cremation only)
– buying a burial plot
– embalming
– flowers
– newspaper notices
– order of service
– extra/alternative transport
– extra service fees if you require a wake for example.

Is there an admin fee?

Co-op do not charge any administration fees for setting up or making changes to a plan. 

Do they offer a direct cremation/cremation only plan?

Co-op offer a direct cremation plan which is provided in partnership with Memoria. Under this plan the deceased will be cremated without a funeral service attended by any family or friends.

For £1,490, the direct plan includes: 

• Collection from the place of passing.
• Care of the deceased by a Co-op funeral director. 
• Advice on registration of the death.
• A basic coffin.
• Transfer of the coffin to the crematorium. 
• An online funeral arranger.
• Arrangement of the cremation at a crematorium chosen by Co-op/Memoria. This crematorium may not be your local one. 
• Scattering of the ashes in the garden of remembrance, or they will be made available for collection at the crematorium.

Some of the things this plan does not include: 

• Choice of funeral director.
• Any Doctor’s fees.
• Viewing of the deceased.
• Dressing of the deceased in their own clothes (they will be placed in a gown for the purposes of cremation).
• An attended funeral service.
• Choice of crematorium. 
• A hearse.
• Embalming of the deceased.
• Return of the ashes – these will be scattered in the garden of remembrance, or they will be made available for collection at the crematorium.
• An obituary notice in a paper or magazine.
• Flowers.
• A headstone.
• A limousine.

Co op funeral plan offers and deals

Discounts are available if you are a Co-op member, with savings available of between £75-£125 depending on the plan you select. Member prices are outlined in the table above. 

If you are not already a member then it is simple to become one. A £1 admin fee is payable on signing up to a membership. 

Are cop op plans Safe, Reliable and secure?

For extra protection, all funds paid to Co-op under their funeral plans are held by an independent trustee, Apex Corporate Trustees (UK) Limited (‘Apex’). 

These are held in trust for when they’re needed. Co-op also publicly reports the results of an annual valuation for funeral plans in their year-end accounts. Co-op’s accounts are produced by independent professional actuaries.

Under UK law, trustees such as this are required to act in accordance with what is called a ‘fiduciary duty’. It represents the highest standard of care required under law. 

A fiduciary duty can be broken down into several elements – most importantly, a fiduciary:

• Cannot put themselves in a position where they are in a conflict of interest; and
• Cannot profit from their position. 

To add further security, Co-op are authorised and regulated by the FCA and the Funeral Planning Authority. 

What happens to my plan if Co-op goes bust?

In the event that Co-op go out of business and are not able to provide your funeral, the money held under your plan will be protected by the trust outlined above. 

The money will be released to Apex when you pass away, who will then return the payments made to your Estate after paying their own costs.

The amount paid to the Estate would depend upon the plan at the time of death. 

Apex’s costs will be paid from these funds. Your  Estate can then use the remaining money to pay for a funeral with another provider.

Depending on the cost of the funeral, your Estate may receive more or less money than is needed to pay all funeral costs.

Awards and accolades

Here are some of the awards their plans have won:

• Moneynet has recognised Co-op as being the best funeral plan provider for 5 years running. 
• For 5 consecutive years their Gold Funeral Plan has been awarded a 5 star rating by Defaqto. 
• Their Silver and Gold plans have received a 5 star rating from Fairer Finance.

Refund & Cancellation terms

You can cancel your plan within 30 days of the start date without giving any reason and receive a full refund. 

If you cancel your plan after 30 days there’ll be an administration charge of £250. Co-op will return the payments made for your plan (including any deposit), minus this fee. 

Any cancellation requests must be made in writing to the address at the beginning of this article.

Contacting Co op Funeral Care

Address	Funeralcare Client Relations 3rd Floor 1 Angel Square Manchester M60 0AG
Phone	0800 083 6301 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm) 0800 289 120 (Urgent 24h line)
Email	General enquiries are accepted by email funeral.clientrelations@co-operative.coop

What happens to my money?

Co-op transfer all funds paid under each plan into an individual whole of life insurance policy with Royal London. From this policy Co-op receive an allowance to meet their initial costs of selling and arranging the funeral plan.

The money is released by Royal London to Co-op when you pass away so that the funeral can be provided. The funds can also be released in other situations; for example if you request the cancellation of your plan, so that Co-op can refund the funds, less the above admin fee, to you.

Co Op Funeral Plans Vs Other Plans

There are a huge variety of plans available which cater for a variety of budgets, which is why we have created a useful guide to show you some alternatives.

This year we have reviewed a number of plan providers. The most similar to Co-op would be Golden Charter or Golden Leaves funeral plans. Both providers offer a range of attended funeral plans which in some cases are cheaper than the plans offered by Co-op.

Golden Leaves offers four different plans and Golden Charter offers five, so there are plenty to choose from depending on your budget.

Co op funeral plan final thoughts

In conclusion, Funeral Inspirations would recommend Co-op Funeralcare’s plans. They are a trusted and established funeral plan provider and are highly regarded in the industry for their service quality and customer care. We have given them a score of 4.5/5 stars, with a slight deduction being made for plans being rather rigid and difficult to personalise.