Find out how to become an appointed representative (AR) that sells and distributes funeral plans on behalf of a principal firm.
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Funeral plan intermediaries are generally firms that advise customers on funeral plan contracts, or arrange them for customers.
If you’re involved in selling pre-paid funeral plans (including funeral directors, will writers and operators of lead generation websites), you must:
- be directly authorised by us, or
- be an AR of an appropriately authorised firm, known as the principal[1]
before you carry out any business.
Make sure you understand when you need to apply to be directly authorised by us[2], rather than becoming an AR.
Yours and the principal's responsibilities
The principal will be responsible for the conduct of each AR they’ve appointed to sell, market or promote pre-paid funeral plans on their behalf.
If you intend to become an AR, you'll need to find a principal. You won’t need to apply to us for authorisation, but your principal will need to submit a notification of your appointment that we'll consider. You'll enter into a contract with the entity that agrees to act as your principal firm.
You can become an AR of more than one principal firm if you wish to sell or offer funeral plans for several firms. In this case, you'll need to become an AR of each principal.
Senior managers at ARs
If you become an AR, senior managers at your firm will be subject to the requirements for approved persons[3].
This means that individuals that are performing activities described as 'controlled functions' will need to be approved and comply with the rules for approved persons.
Your principal firm is responsible for making sure that it has identified, and sought approval of, all individuals performing controlled functions.