An article on BBC News may have caused concern for anyone who has a funeral plan and we wanted to reassure islanders who have taken the thoughtful step of planning ahead that this new regulation of the funeral plan market, is unlikely to have any impact locally.

Zac Hannis, our General Manager explains “The article flags up the move by the UK Government to regulate funeral plans, which means that they will fall under similar regulatory requirements to some types of insurance. All funeral planning firms must now apply to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and in their application demonstrate they can meet the standards that will ensure protection for consumers in the future. The concerns raised in the BBC article are that this may cause smaller providers to pull out of the market and leave a question mark over what will happen to the plans they hold.

With regards to people locally, I believe all of the funeral directors here only offer plans from market-leading providers that have already applied to be regulated. At Beckfords, our plans are provided by Golden Charter, one of the biggest and longest-established funeral plan firms. They operate under their own strict code of practice and are known as one of the most transparent companies in the sector, so they have welcomed the additional regulation that is being brought in."

Zac adds “The other point to make is that Funeral Directors in Guernsey operate to the highest standards and would never act unprofessionally when providing a plan. We are the ones who see first hand the benefits that funeral plans give to families in terms of easing the burden emotionally and financially, and that is why we recommend that people do plan ahead. This move should be of no concern to anyone who currently has a plan locally and will provide enhanced protection for those taking them out in future."

Read the BBC Article here