The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a list of 24 funeral plan providers it intends to authorise when the pre-paid funeral plans industry comes under its regulation from 29 July.

The list includes the largest funeral plan providers and encompasses approximately 87% of existing customer plans. A small number of providers' applications are still being assessed by the regulator, the FCA said.

All the providers in the market remain unregulated until 29 July, when the regulation comes into effect. It warned customers will not have access to compensation until then. Once in effect, funeral plan holders will be able to refer complaints about a firm to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and will be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if their provider goes out of business.

If the issue happened before July 2022, funeral plan holders will still be able to refer it to the FOS, as long as the firm was registered with the Funeral Planning Authority at the time the issue occurred.

The new rules include a ban on cold calling and commission paid to intermediaries, as well as full checks on the fitness to operate of those selling funeral plans, while setting new standards on advertising to ensure plans are sold fairly. In addition, the new rules ensure guarantees that funeral plans will always deliver a funeral unless the customer dies within two years of taking out the plan, in which case a full refund will be offered and that customers will receive a full refund if they cancel a plan within 30 days of purchase, or pay only a reasonable charge later on.

Emily Shepperd, executive director of authorisations at the FCA, said: "As this sector approaches regulation, we want to provide holders of pre-paid funeral plans with some reassurance, which is why we have published a list of the firms we intend to authorise. 

"Our regulation will lead to higher standards in the market and boost consumer protection. We want to see an improvement in the way customers are treated, with better value products, better sales practices and better controls in place so consumers can be confident they will receive the funeral they expect."

Last year, the regulator announced its plan to better protect consumers within the funeral plans market after concerns were raised within the media and by consumer groups about the conduct and financial soundness of some pre-paid funeral plan providers.

Earlier this month, the FCA published a warning against two funeral providers, Empathy (Empathy Funeral Plans UK Limited) and Unique (Fox Milton & Co Limited, trading as Unique Funeral Plans), advising consumers not to buy plans from the firms.