Complaints

How to complain and how we will respond

Choice Funeral Plans from Funeral Partners are offered by the Alternative Planning Company Limited (“APCL”). APCL is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) in the United Kingdom to sell and administer funeral plans, with firm reference number 965282.

We are required to have in place effective and transparent procedures for the reasonable and prompt handling of complaints in relation to the regulated activity we provide.

This page sets out our complaints handling procedures that we will follow in the event that you make a complaint.

Can you complain to us?

We can address your complaint about our Funeral Plan in the following circumstances:

If you have enquired about, purchased or attempted to purchase a Funeral Plan from us, or if this person has asked you to complain on their behalf
If you are the ‘nominated representative’ of someone who has purchased a Funeral Plan from us
If you are the ‘personal representative’ of someone who has bought a Funeral Plan from us, but the person who has bought the plan, is now deceased
If you are the ‘personal representative’ of someone who is covered by one of our Funeral Plans

If you are in any doubt about your eligibility to complain to us, please speak to us so that we can help. We will work with you to understand your specific circumstances and give you guidance.

Your complaint

We aim to provide the highest standards of service at all times, but we recognise that things can and do go wrong, and that you may wish to complain about our services. We will work together with you in order to seek a quick and satisfactory conclusion to your complaint.

How can you make a complaint?

You can make a complaint by the following means: in person, over the telephone, by email or by post.

In person
If you bought a funeral plan from one of our Funeral Partners funeral homes, you are able to make a complaint at the funeral home

By telephone:
Choice Office – tel: 01803 298243.
Alternatively, you can contact the funeral home where you bought the plan

By email
info@choiceplan.co.uk

By post
Customer Service
Choice Funeral Plans
46 The Terrace
Torquay
Devon
TQ1 1DE

Our timetable for responding to you

We will acknowledge your complaint in writing and once we have acknowledged your complaint we will keep you informed of our progress. If we can, we will aim to resolve your complaint within 3 working days. If resolved within 3 working days, we will send you a Summary Resolution Communication which will:

acknowledge your complaint and confirm that we now consider it to be resolved;
explain that your complaint may still be eligible to take to the Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”), and we will provide you with the timescales you have for doing this; and
provide information about how to contact the FOS.

If we are not able to resolve your complaint within 3 working days of receipt, then we will aim to resolve your complaint as soon as possible after this, and no later than within 8 weeks of receipt. If we have resolved your complaint within 8 weeks, we will issue you with a Resolution Letter. If we are unable to resolve your complaint within 8 weeks, we will send you a Holding Letter, explaining the reason for any delay and any revised timescales.

In our Holding Letter or our Resolution Letter we will:

inform you of the outcome of the complaint and our proposed resolution (if the letter is a Resolution Letter);
explain that your complaint may still be eligible to take to the FOS, and we will provide you with the timescales you have for doing this; and
enclose a copy of, or an electronic link to, the FOS standard explanatory leaflet.

Investigating and resolving your complaint

We will investigate your complaint competently, diligently and impartially with a view to deciding whether the complaint should be upheld and whether any remedial action and / or redress may be appropriate.

If we decide that redress is appropriate, we will aim to provide you with fair compensation for any acts or omissions for which we are responsible. If you accept our offer, we will promptly provide compensation to you.

Financial Ombudsman Service

If you are an eligible complainant, you are able to refer a complaint to the FOS if you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint. Your rights are set out in the FOS’s leaflet “Your Complaint and the Ombudsman” which we will provide to you as part of the Complaints process. Please remember that if you wish to refer a complaint to the FOS, you must do so within six months of the date of our Final Response.

Closing complaints

We will regard your complaint as closed in the following circumstances:

once we have sent you a Final Response;
where you have told us that you accept an earlier response that we have sent to you; or
if you refer your complaint to the FOS, when the FOS informs us that the complaint has been closed.

Your right to privacy

All complaints received will be dealt with taking into account confidentiality, and complaints will be handled in line with the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. Please also consult APCL’s Privacy Policy, or please do contact us if you require a copy in another medium.

Questions

If you have any questions about our complaints process, please contact us via email at info@choiceplan.co.uk, or through any of the other channels available to you in the “How can you make a complaint” section above.