Golden Leaves International
Helping the ex-pat community

Your Questions
Answered

Is it really necessary to pre-plan my funeral? 

For expatriates living overseas, we believe it’s essential. The combination of strict regulations, red tape and language barriers means that pre-planning is the only way to ensure your family is spared the stress of organising everything when the time comes. 

Why not just take out insurance? 

Customers are often tempted to choose an insurance policy rather than a funeral plan, but there are a number of reasons why a funeral plan is a more sensible option. 

• An insurance policy may not provide you with an emergency 24-hour helpline service. 

• Most important of all, an insurance policy does nothing to protect your loved ones from the immense stress of having to organise a funeral in a foreign country, with the language barrier and local regulations to contend with. 

• A Golden Leaves funeral plan does not require any medicals like an insurance policy generally does, although we will ask you about your health and this may limit how you can pay for your plan. 

What if I want my body to be brought back to the UK? 

Most expats choose a plan that assumes their funeral will take place in their current country of residence. But if you’d prefer to be repatriated to have a funeral on your home soil, we have a funeral plan specially designed to facilitate this. 

Will I be dual-country covered? 

Yes. As well as being covered in the country where you have purchased your plan, by providing additional information, your arrangements will be set up in the UK too at no additional charge. Disbursement costs that are guaranteed on most international plans are NOT guaranteed in the UK, but become a contribution to the disbursement costs at the time of the funeral. 

What are third party fees? 

Third Party Fees are fees that have to be paid for things that are outside the control of the funeral director – examples are doctors’ charges or fees for church services and the minister or to buy a burial plot or interment fees. 

What happens if I die on holiday? 

We recommend checking that your travel insurance covers repatriation. If it doesn’t, we can advise your dependents how to use the plan’s funds to contribute towards the cost of a local funeral, or the cost of repatriation back to your country of residence. 

Who delivers my Golden Leaves funeral? 

Golden Leaves will deliver your funeral services via one of our network of approved funeral directors. If the service is delivered by one of our network, we will pay them a contractually agreed fee to deliver the funeral to you, our client. 

Can I request a local funeral director to deliver my Golden Leaves funeral Service? 

Golden Leaves will endeavour to allocate the delivery of your funeral services to a local funeral director of your choice (if required) providing they agree to provide the funeral services to our client on our behalf and meet our stringent service standards. (Except for the Direct Cremation Plan where Golden Leaves will select the funeral provider without exception).

If I take out the Finance Arrangement over 24-96 months what happens if I die before the end of the agreement? 

Should you, or the person who purchased the plan on your behalf, die during the regulated credit agreement, your lender will not pursue the outstanding balance. 

Am I guaranteed to be accepted for the Finance Arrangement? 

Acceptance is not guaranteed. Regulated and responsible lenders must ensure that any finance provided is affordable to a customer and is in the best interests of the customer. This is not always possible. To assist the lender with ensuring the above customers will be required to carry out a credit check and possibly provide additional information. If the lender is able to ensure the finance purchase is in the best interest of the customer and affordable, the application will be accepted. You must repay the finance by your 85th birthday so this may limit the term over which Funeral Safe Limited will allow you to make repayments. 

If I purchase a Direct Cremation Plan, can I have a service for my family to attend? 

This is an unattended direct cremation service and therefore unfortunately doesn’t include a service for mourners. Many people do hold a separate memorial service at a later date, once they have collected the cremated remains of their loved one. 

Am I guaranteed to be accepted? 

So long as you are 18 or over, there are no age limits to acceptance for your plan. If you pay for your plan with a finance agreement with Funeral Safe Limited, this is subject to status and affordability check so it’s not guaranteed that they will accept your finance application. You must repay your finance before your 85th birthday so this may limit the term over which Funeral Safe Limited will allow you to make repayments. If you’ve been told by a doctor of a condition or illness that will cause death within 12 months of applying for a plan then you can still take out a plan but you will only be able to pay with a single, lump sum payment: other payment options will not be available to you. 

If I decide to purchase my plan over 12 – 96 monthly instalments, what happens if I die before I have paid them all? 

If death occurs from natural causes in the qualifying period, the plan will be cancelled and all payments refunded to the estate or to the individual who purchased the plan, but no funeral will be provided. If death was accidental then a funeral will be provided, with no balance to pay. If you die after the qualifying period, the funeral will be provided with no further payments due. 

What happens to the money I pay for my plan? 

The company retains an amount from the price paid by you for your plan, to cover our marketing and sales expenses, for the administrative costs of running the business for the life of each plan and to provide an element of profit. The balance is placed in the Trust in order to pay our trade funeral suppliers (for further information if required, please visit goldenleavesinternational.com and refer to our price breakdown summary table, contained in our Commissions and Payment Disclosure). 

Can I upgrade/downgrade my plan to another if I change my mind? 

Yes, your current plan will be subject to the cancellation terms of your existing plan. You can then take out a new plan from the currently available plans. 

Can I cancel my plan? 

Yes, of course. But your rights depend on how you pay for your plan. You have a right to cancel any plan (however you pay for it) within 30 days or within 7 days of being told who your allocated funeral director is, if this is later than 30 days. If you do this, you’ll get all your money back. 

If you paid for your plan in a single lump sum or you finance this via Funeral Safe, you can still cancel after this time and get your money back but we’ll keep a €274 / £239 charge for administration. 

If you pay for your plan by instalments over 12 – 96 months’ you also have extended cancellation rights. For this payment option you can cancel any time within 12 months of taking out your plan and get all your money back. If you cancel after the first 12 months, you can still cancel and get your money back, but we’ll keep a €274 / £239 charge for administration.