How your money is safeguarded
When you take out a funeral plan, you're trusting us to look after your money for years – perhaps decades. That's a responsibility we take very seriously.
Every penny you pay towards your plan is placed into the Pure Cremation Funeral Plan Trust – an independently managed Trust, until the Trust holds sufficient funds to deliver the funeral plan. This Trust is completely separate from Pure Cremation as a business and is run by five Trustees, reviewed annually by an independent expert, and monitored every month by both the Trustees and our Board.
But we go further, by doing something no other funeral plan provider does. We reinsure your plan with the world’s biggest reinsurance company, and we never use your money to lend back to the business.
This means we’re the safest place for your plan money, with a level of security no one else can match.
All plan holder funds are safeguarded until needed. Here’s how:
A Trust with a surplus of £21.1 million
At the last review on 31/12/25, the Trust had a very healthy surplus, with a funding level of 115.9% calculated on a best estimate basis, meaning that the Trust has more than enough funds to cover the costs of all plan holders' cremations as promised. The Trust surplus is monitored monthly by both the Trustees and the Board of Directors to ensure this strength is maintained.
See a summary of the Trust's solvency position.
The discount rate used by the actuaries reflects the comparative level of risk in the Trust. This figure can be compared across Trust solvency reports published by different funeral plan providers in the market. The lower the discount rate, the lower the level of risk – and the more conservative the assumptions used in calculating the solvency ratio.
Plan holders’ money is kept safe until it is needed
The Trust is managed independently to Pure Cremation Funeral Planning Ltd, and the funds transferred to the Trust are used to help meet the cost of your cremation when required.
- The Trust is reviewed every year by an independent expert to ensure there are always sufficient funds available for your cremation
- The Trust abides by the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 Chapter 14
Meet the Trustees
The Trust is managed by five Trustees.
Stephen Crewe
(Independent trustee)
Consultant and Retired Magistrate
Simon Gunson
(Independent trustee)
Former R&D Vice President for FTSE 100 company
Stuart Owen
(Independent trustee)
Previously MD of Barclays Global Investments Ltd
Dean Lamble
Chief Executive Officer of Pure Cremation
Mark Gawthorne
Finance Director of Pure Cremation
The Trustees have three principal responsibilities:
The appointment of a qualified, FCA registered investment manager to look after the funds placed into the Trust
The appointment of a suitable funeral provider to carry out plan-holders’ wishes – this is Pure Cremation Ltd
Overseeing the management of the Trust to ensure that funeral expenses can be met and producing the annual report