Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Co-op Funeral Plans Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr C complained about Co-op Funeral Plans Limited's handling of his pre-paid funeral plan cancellation and the time taken to receive his refund. His online cancellation request on 24 May 2025 failed due to an incorrect plan number, but Co-op did not contact him to explain or assist. Mr C called four days later to complete the cancellation, and received his refund 17 days after his initial request. Co-op accepted it should have contacted Mr C about the failed online request and apologised. The ombudsman found that the refund was issued within the regulatory 30-day maximum and that the overall handling was reasonable, so the complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Co-op failed to contact Mr C when his online request couldn't be processed, the refund was ultimately issued within the regulatory maximum of 30 days (17 days after the initial request). The ombudsman considered that the overall timescale and handling were reasonable in the circumstances. Although Mr C referenced the FCA's Consumer Duty and guidance on vulnerable customers, the ombudsman found that this guidance does not impose a shorter refund timescale for funeral plans and that issuing the refund within the permitted timeframe did not breach the Consumer Duty. The ombudsman considered Co-op's apology for the failure to contact Mr C to be a reasonable and proportionate response given the limited nature of the failing.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website