Steve Rowland, a Trustee of the Golden Leaves Trust, was recently appointed Chairman of the The National Association of Funeral Plan Providers which was established earlier this year, following regulation of the funeral plan market by the Financial Conduct Authority in August 2022.

It is the voice for 25 of the 26 UK prepaid funeral plan providers currently authorised by the FCA. Together these organisations serve almost 1.7 million plan holders and their families across the length and breadth of the UK, plus expatriates in several countries.

The NAFPP’s objective is to champion and support its members:  To push for the best outcomes from new and changing regulation and legislation to ensure that prepaid funeral plan providers thrive as an essential part of effective later life planning – serving their plan holders and families plus the wider community.

To do this they engage with, amongst others, the UK Government, the assemblies and parliaments of Scotland. Wales and Northern Ireland as well as regulators, particularly the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)

They will also speak out on issues that are relevant to pre-paid funeral plan providers and their customers, plus wider issues impacting the future funeral market.

The NAFPP is not a regulator itself, nor is it able to deal with complaints made about providers – these are considered by the Financial Ombudsman Service if they cannot be resolved directly with the provider.