Widowed Parent’s Allowance is a weekly payment payable to a parent whose husband, wife or civil partner has died and who has at least one child for whom they receive Child Benefit.
For further information, please click here.
All deaths have to be registered, and the people closest to the deceased person have a legal obligation to do this. Deaths should be registered within 5 days – if this is not going to be possible, you should inform the Registrar.
Once the death has been registered with the Registrar, they will provide you with a formal Death Certificate, which is often a necessary document for any legal and estate issues that need to be attended to.
For further details please see our ‘How to register death’ section.
Anyone aged 18 or over can take out a plan. There’s no upper age limit and no medical or health questions to answer.
UK residents aged 18 or over can take out a plan. For instalment plans payable over 2 years or more, the final instalment must be paid by your 85th birthday. There are no medical or health questions to answer.
The funeral account is sent to the person responsible for the arrangements or the solicitor/Bank, when necessary, about a week after the funeral.
The account can be paid for by cash, cheque, credit card or Bank transfer upon request.
Please see our ‘Paying for a funeral’ section for further details.
Planning for later life is never an easy thing to do, but it can be comforting and reassuring to know that you have taken care of your arrangements, including your funeral. A pre-arranged funeral plan is a simple and straight forward way of removing this worry and can provide real peace of mind for you and your family.
Please call for advice and a free information pack.
If you would like to be buried, it will only be possible if an existing grave is to be used or if a grave can be purchased for “future use”. We cannot guarantee third party costs for burial as they vary a great deal, but will allow the equivalent cost of the essential third party costs for cremation.
Please see the price option sheet and Terms & Conditions for more information.
The plans we offer give you exceptional financial security for your money. Unlike some plans, every penny of the full value of the plan (excluding the initial management fee) is held securely in a whole of life assurance policy and ring-fenced to pay for your funeral when the time comes. The money is made immediately available at the time of need and the funds cannot be used for anything other than your funeral for total peace of mind.
Our funeral pre-payment plans are provided by Ecclesiastical Planning Services which is part of the Ecclesiastical group. Ecclesiastical has been protecting people, property and funds since 1887.
The funeral plan funds are held in guaranteed whole of life assurance policies with a life assurance company that is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and regulated by the PRA and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Funeral plans themselves are not regulated by the PRA or FCA but Ecclesiastical Planning Services is a registered provider of the Funeral Planning Authority and adheres to its Code of Practice and high professional standards
If you choose to pay by monthly instalments and you wish to stop paying for any reason, you can either cancel the plan and receive a refund of the money you have paid excluding the management fee, or you can leave what you have paid in the plan to be used as a contribution to your funeral when the time comes.
If your plan is needed before you have completed your instalments, the payments you have made will be used as a contribution to your funeral and your wishes will be clearly documented, giving your family peace of mind.
Because Ecclesiastical Planning Services works with funeral directors throughout the country, you should be able to transfer your plan to an accredited funeral director near your new home. However, should you have opted to guarantee the specified third party charges, this guarantee will no longer apply and there may be additional costs to pay depending on local prices. The third party guarantee fee will be held within your plan and will be made available towards the third party costs at the time of need. Please refer to our Terms and Conditions for details or speak to a member of the team.
If you move, you should be able to transfer your plan to a funeral director near your new home. However, there may be additional costs depending on local prices. Please refer to the Terms and Conditions for details or speak to us for more information.
All of our plans include removing the deceased within a 25 mile radius of our Head Office premises. If you are going abroad, you should ensure that your holiday insurance includes cover for the cost of bringing you back to this country. All of our plans include removal to our chapels of rest from Gatwick and Heathrow airports.
The plan does not cover the cost of a funeral abroad, or the cost of repatriating the deceased. It is therefore important that your travel insurance policy covers this.
There are many options to choose from, some of the most common choices are:
- Placed in the crematoriums Garden of Remembrance
- Scatter them in a special location
- Kept at home in a Urn or Memorial
- Buried in a family grave.
For further advice please contact us, and we will be happy to assist you.
Before a cremation can take place, a doctor (The current GP, or Hospital doctor) is required to complete the cremation documentation. Doctors normally charge these fees to the funeral director, who then passes on the cost to the family.
Yes. The identity of the coffin name plate is checked by the crematorium attendant before it is placed in the cremation chamber. An identity label is issued and stays with the remains throughout the cremation process.
It is illegal to cremate more than one coffin at any one time.
If the grave is ‘earth’ it will take about six months or more before the ground is firm enough to place the weight of a headstone. If the grave is ‘bricked’ inside or a concrete beam, then it does not take as long.
For further advice please contact the Monumental Department 020 8642 0327, who will be pleased to advise you.
Each Limousine can seat a maximum of six people.
The cremation process is governed by Cremation Regulations (England & Wales). The crematorium authorities take great care to ensure that every individual cremation is kept completely separate.
W. A. Truelove & Son understand that a memorial is extremely important for the family to ensure that there is a respectful tribute to their loved one that they can visit. Therefore we offer a large range of memorials with different designs for you to choose from.
Please see our Memorial section or call 020 8642 0327 for further details.
If you are responsible for paying for a funeral and you or your partner are in receipt of one of the following benefits or tax credits, you may be eligible for a Funeral Payment from the Social Fund:
- Income Support,
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance,
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance,
- Pension Credit,
- Housing Benefit,
- Council Tax Benefit (or if the Council Tax payer where you live receives a Second Adult Rebate because you are on low income),
- Working Tax Credit which includes a disability or severe disability element,
- Child Tax Credit at a higher rate than the family element.
The term “partner” in this context means:
- a person you are married to, or a person you live with as if you are married to them,
- a civil partner, or person you live with as if you are civil partners.
A Funeral Payment includes the necessary burial or cremation fees plus up to £1,000 for the funeral director’s charges, coffin and flowers.
For further information, please click here.
The plan covers the funeral director’s costs listed in the plan details as long as your requirements don’t change and your selected funeral director carries out your funeral. The plan can also include an allowance towards third party costs such as cremation, and officiant’s fees. These costs are outside of our control. If these costs, as listed in the plan details, are not covered by the plan value at the time of need, there will be a balance to pay. Please refer to the Terms and Conditions for more information.
Please make your cheque payable to W. A. Truelove & Son Ltd.
We accept all major credit cards (except American Express) – Please contact us on 020 8642 8211 for further details.
If there are sufficient funds in the deceased’s account, payment can be presented to the bank using our invoice and a copy of the Death Certificate.
Yes, this is included on traditional funeral only. We can accept cheques payable to your chosen charity and hold them for a period of time, then forward to the charity and inform you of the amount raised. Additionally we offer the option of online payments to a Love2Donate charity page which can be setup on your behalf.
Yes, we can bring the deceased home either on the evening before the service or on the morning of the service. (Subject to conditions).
Yes, you can. Normally the crematorium have a varied library but you might be required to supply special pieces of music on a CD.
You can add special wishes and requests such as song choices, readings, information for a eulogy and so on. There is no charge to add these details. There may be more to pay if you require additional features, services or upgrades. You can also appoint a nominated representative, who we will keep informed about your plan according to your instructions.
Yes you can as long as it is safe to do so.
We brief you just before the funeral, so you are prepared, and we are always on hand to help.
Yes, you are able to pay over 12, 24, 36, 48 or 60 months. Please note there is an additional cost for paying by instalments over 24, 36, 48 and 60 months. The additional cost is held in the pre-payment plan and used for the funeral when the time comes.
Yes, you are able to pay over a range of periods. There is an additional cost for paying by instalments over two or more years. Eligibility criteria applies. Please refer to the Instalment Q&A and the Terms and Conditions for more information. Your funeral director will be able to provide you with a personalised quote.
Yes, you can make changes to your plan after you have taken it out and once it is fully-paid. Just let us know what you wish to change. There may be an additional cost if you add new features and services to your plan.
Yes, you can change your mind at any time. If you choose to cancel the plan up to 30 days from the date of paying for your Truelove Funeral Plan, you will receive a full refund. If you cancel the plan after 30 days, you will receive a refund of the original amount paid, excluding the management fee.
Yes, you can cancel your plan at any time. If you choose to cancel the plan within the cancellation period, you’ll receive a full refund. If you cancel the plan after the cancellation period, you’ll receive a refund of the original amount paid, excluding the administration fee, and any payments to insure an installment plan.
Yes, we find that many of our customers choose to do this.
Following lobbying by the National Association of Funeral Directors, the Department for Work and Pensions now accept that certain funeral expenses can be one of the qualifying criteria for applying for a Budgeting Loan.
You will have to pay a Budgeting Loan back, but there will not be any interest.
For further information, please click here.
BEREAVEMENT PAYMENT
If your husband, wife or civil partner has died, you may be eligible for a Bereavement Payment, which is a one-off, tax-free, lump-sum payment of £2,000.
If you are in receipt of State Retirement Pension when your husband, wife or civil partner dies, you do not need to make a claim, as long as the other requirements are met. You will automatically receive the Bereavement Payment when you inform the Department of Work and Pensions of their death.
For further information, please click here.
BEREAVEMENT ALLOWANCE
The Bereavement Allowance is a taxable weekly benefit, payable for up to 52 weeks after the death of your husband, wife or civil partner.
For further information, please click here.
There are many other vehicles available such as a Horse Drawn carriage, Motor cycle hearse, Campervan or Vintage lorry.
