Not upheld: Other regulated complaint complaint against Golden Charter Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs O's estate complained that Golden Charter cancelled her funeral plan without notification and breached GDPR by discussing the plan with a family member. Mrs O had taken out the plan in 2013 with monthly payments of over £30, but payments ceased in April 2020. Golden Charter and the insurance provider sent multiple letters in May, June, and July 2020 notifying Mrs O of the missed payments and subsequent cancellation. The estate discovered the cancellation only after Mrs O died in December 2022. The ombudsman found that Golden Charter had complied with the plan terms by sending properly addressed notification letters and that it was unlikely Mrs O received none of them. The GDPR complaint was rejected as GDPR does not apply to deceased persons and the calls occurred after Mrs O's death. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Golden Charter had complied with the plan terms by sending notification letters about the missed payments and cancellation. Although Mrs B claimed Mrs O did not receive the letters, the ombudsman found it unlikely that Mrs O received none of the multiple letters sent by both the insurance provider and Golden Charter, particularly given they were correctly addressed and sent in accordance with standard business practice. The ombudsman noted that Golden Charter was not required to use recorded delivery and that Mrs O bore responsibility for maintaining payments once notified of the direct debit problem. Regarding the GDPR complaint, the ombudsman found it had no merit as GDPR applies only to living persons and the calls occurred after Mrs O's death.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website