Funeral plans represent a long-term commitment and should not be purchased before you have carefully considered all your options. However, if you do decide that you no longer wish to have a funeral plan you are entitled to cancel it at any time; whether or not you are entitled to a refund depends entirely on the amount of time which has elapsed since you made the purchase.
If you cancel your plan within a month, most providers will give you a full refund of your payment, or any installments which you have made within this time, usually with no additional charges. After the first month you may receive a refund, but it is unlikely to be the full amount that you paid and you will not receive any interest which the money has earned during this time. You may also be required to pay an administration fee.
If you die before you finish making payments on your plan, your plan administrator may match the value of the payments you have made (depending on the plan and how many payments you made), but it is more likely that your relatives will be liable to pay the outstanding balance of your plan. It is advisable to check your plan provider's policy on early death before you sign the contract.
In some rare circumstances, a funeral service is required for a death when no body has been recovered. This may also be the case for funerals when the deceased person has chosen to donate their body to medical research. In such cases, the family of the deceased may decide that they wish to hold either a religious or non-religious memorial service in order to celebrate and pay tribute to their life. If the deceased purchased a funeral plan, but a traditional burial or cremation is not required, the plan should still cover the costs of the memorial service. However, although memorial services tend to incur fewer costs than a full service and burial or cremation, it is unlikely that the family will be refunded the difference between what was paid for the plan and the actual cost of the service.
