Arranging a Funeral using a Funeral
Director
Introduction
This page is designed to help you understand how funeral directing
operates and will provide you with the information to ask questions
appropriate to your needs when you consider the arrangement of a
funeral.
History
Funeral directing as a profession commenced towards the end of the
1700's, before then funerals were organised by individuals eg a
gravedigger or member of the clergy and the deceased buried in a
churchyard.
Funeral
Directors
Funeral Directors can set up a business without training or
qualifications, and no "licence" is necessary. Because of this the
Council has initiated a Certification Scheme for Funeral Directors.
The scheme is based on the Codes of Conduct that many funeral
directors are required to adhere to by their professional body and
commits them to achieving rigorous conditions in respect of staff
training, customer care, consultation with clients, complaints
procedures etc. It aims to guarantee that funeral directors who
adopt the scheme will provide the bereaved with a service of value
for money, dignity, integrity and respect.
At the present time:
- United Co-operative Funeral Services, Crewe. Tel:
(01270) 584329
- Oxley's Funeral Services, Crewe. Tel: (01270)
214009
- F J Tresidder and Son (Crewe and Nantwich Branches).
Tel: (01270) 505878 or (01270) 626653
- Graham Tresidder - Nantwich Funeral Services Tel: 01270
812512
- R J Griffiths, Sandbach. Tel: (01270)
765783
- Crewe Funeral Services, Shavington, Crewe Tel 01270
588980
Have all committed themselves to the scheme.
Role and Function
If you choose to use a funeral
director, contact the one of your choice. If the death occurs at
home and the police are involved they will arrange for a funeral
director to remove the deceased. This does not mean that you have
to use that funeral director.
Once contacted the funeral director
will:
- Arrange to collect the deceased either from home, mortuary or a
nursing home and prepare them for viewing. (viewing is normally
carried out by appointment).
- Usually offer a choice of coffins.
- Make arrangements with the cemetery or crematorium to arrange a
date and time for the funeral.
- Ensure that all relevant forms and certificates are completed
and taken to the appropriate offices.
- Pay the fees involved, these are called disbursements.
- Provide for floral tributes and newspaper obituaries, if
required.
After the funeral an account will be
sent which should be itemised and all the disbursements paid on
behalf of the person arranging the funeral should be clearly
defined. This funeral account should broadly be in line with the
amount agreed before the funeral was arranged.
Paying for the
Funeral
Most funeral directors should be able to supply an estimate and you
should reasonably expect an itemised price list of all aspects of
the funeral including the disbursements.
Some people alleviate the worry of
paying for a funeral by purchasing a "Funeral Plan". You should
consider however that cheaper options may arise in the future. If a
funeral plan is purchased it will be necessary to choose a
cremation or burial package that meets your needs. These plans need
to be considered very carefully, as some of the basic options may
not prove sufficient when you actually die.
Funeral plans may be paid by
instalments or by a lump sum payment. This enables the funeral to
be paid at current prices, without further worry about increased
funeral costs in the future.
Insurance policies are also a way in
which people can help cover funeral bills, and these can be paid
over a number of years.
The ultimate cost of a funeral can
be reduced by purchasing some elements in advance. For a burial, a
grave can be purchased and a memorial placed on it prior to death;
coffins can also be purchased or constructed in advance.