Category: Uncategorised

Posted on

Prepaid Funeral Plans

There’s a conversation no one in our profession seems brave enough to have publicly—so let’s have it here. This is a rant, yes. But it’s also a call for clarity, fairness, and a rethink of what prepaid funeral plans have become—and how they’re hurting the very people entrusted with delivering a dignified farewell: your local, independent funeral director.

Prepaid Funeral Plans: A Broken System?

Let’s start with a truth many won’t say aloud: prepaid funeral plans, as they stand today, do not serve funeral homes. In theory, they were created to protect families from rising costs and to give peace of mind that everything is “taken care of.” Noble aims. In practice? They are a product that guarantees the future service cost for decades to be completely covered when in reality Funeral home suppliers rise 7-10% per year.

Funeral homes are being locked into fixed fees that don’t reflect real costs, sometimes decades after the plan was sold. These plans force us to deliver full services while barely covering the cost of the coffin, let alone professional staff, vehicles, maintenance, and overheads. The result? Diminished profits that starve businesses of the cashflow they need to reinvest. No other industry allows you to advance purchase by decades and guarantee no future costs. Try that with your local car dealer!

The Reality Behind the Curtain

We’re not greedy. We’re not chasing luxury. But it is a business—one that requires regular reinvestment to maintain dignified premises, reliable vehicles, modern technology, and trained staff. Improvements in regulation are absolutely essential and guaranteed to be on their way, with tighter regulation comes higher running costs. You don’t get that from thin margins. You certainly don’t get that from an £1,800 funeral that’s been untouched since 1999 while all other costs, fuel, insurance, and wages have skyrocketed.

Funeral homes should always be held to the highest professional and emotional standards, and rightly so. But we’re also the only service providers expected to absorb decades of inflation on behalf of plans we didn’t sell, can’t renegotiate, and sometimes don’t even get told about until the death occurs. These plans often fall short by hundreds of pounds and nobody does anything or can do anything about them.

A Better Solution: Insurance & Savings

Here’s a radical idea: stop forcing funeral homes into loss-making agreements. Let prepaid planning move toward financial-only solutions—funeral bonds, savings accounts, or properly regulated death insurance products. Let families earmark money without dictating the terms of the service decades in advance. Let funeral homes set their own prices when the time comes, reflective of real-time costs and service standards. Families can plan their funeral with their chosen home and know they have the insurance or financial product in place.

Would that mean prices might be higher than someone imagined twenty years ago? Maybe. But it also ensures the funeral is delivered properly, respectfully, and with the care that only a well-run, financially healthy funeral home can offer.

Who’s Really Benefiting?

Let’s ask ourselves who truly benefits from the current system. Spoiler alert: it’s not the funeral directors. It’s the plan providers and financial middlemen raking in fees and interest while shifting the actual responsibility to us—without the profit.

Time for Reform

We need reform that puts funeral directors back in control of the services they deliver. Reform that recognises the real cost of dignified care. Reform that sees prepaid plans for what they should be: financial preparation, not binding contracts that tie the hands of future funeral providers.

The current model is unsustainable. It penalises the very people doing the work, while stripping away the flexibility, dignity, and personal touch we aim to give every family.

It’s time to stop pretending this system is working. It’s time to rebuild something fair—for families, yes—but also for the funeral professionals committed to guiding them through their hardest days.

Let’s have the uncomfortable conversations. Let’s demand a better way. Because dignity in death must start with fairness in business.

Posted on

Direct Cremation

Pure cremation in Formby Southport and Crosby areas from a local Business

Let’s talk about pure cremation or direct cremation in Formby Southport and Crosby.

direct cremation comparison formby southport crosby

For all of funeral prices and information for funerals in Formby Southport and Crosby, please click here.

For detailed service costs please click here.

For our CMA regulatory standardised funeral price, please click here.

Posted on

Where does your loved one go when a funeral home is instructed?

The funeral industry is not lways as open and transparent as it should be. We believe it should be and slowly it is becoming more and more regulated. We are in great support of this and hope that many more regulations come forwards as time progresses.

We have tried through both of the major trade associations over the last 30 years to incite improved and stricter regulations.
Mrs Joyce Dean fought long and hard as a member of the SAIF national executive committee to bring forth more regulations and was an inspector of funeral home premises as well.

The question of the title of this page is raised often and sometimes not raised because people simply dont want to know, at a time when they are vulnerable and grieving.

It is commmon for funeral homes to have a central hub where deceased are taken to. This might not be in the area of the branch for the funeral home you have chosen. This is true for independents with multiple branches as much as it is for corporate owned homes.

When we collect your loved one we take them to our Formby site and they stay at our Formby site in our chapels of rest and our brand new hospital standard mortuary. We do not take anyone anywhere else for any treatments or presentation.

We believe in transparency of where people are and when they are removed and we strongly support any regulation that makes this compulsory within the industry.

Make sure you ask your funeral director, where is my loved one at all times.

Posted on

Funeral Industry Regulation

Below is a very interesting response to a conversation with Ai tool ‘Chat GPT’ about funeral industry regulation in the UK and how it compares to the rest of the world.

We support and encourage more regulation in an industry that is very serious and needs to take itself very seriously when it comes to conduct and proffesionalism. We are very proud to state that the goverment has implemented council inspections and ours was declared as ‘amazing’ and ‘the bar for comparison’.

With this in mind we have extensive facility refurbishment to improve our mortuary and the supporting facilities that this requires which will be hospital standard and exceeding all anticipated incoming regulations by completion. Not all funeral homes have this.

The recent incident in Hull, where human remains were reportedly left in storage for extended periods by a funeral service provider, has reignited the conversation around regulating the funeral industry in the UK. Currently, the funeral industry operates without extensive mandatory regulation, which allows for a wide variance in standards and practices across the country.

There’s a growing argument in favor of stronger regulation, with proponents suggesting that more oversight would protect grieving families from unprofessional conduct, guarantee dignity for the deceased, and ensure transparency in pricing and services. Introducing mandatory licensing or stricter codes of practice could also enforce higher standards of care and ethics across the industry.

On the other hand, some argue that adding more regulation could increase costs, particularly for smaller, family-run funeral homes, potentially driving them out of business in favor of larger corporations. This could reduce options for consumers and raise prices further, especially since funeral costs are already a concern for many families.

The incident in Hull is a reminder of the need for more consistent and enforceable standards in the funeral industry to prevent similar issues and protect both the deceased and the bereaved. Strengthening oversight and accountability, while finding a balance that preserves the diversity of providers, seems crucial in avoiding future cases of negligence.

The regulation of the funeral industry varies significantly between the U.S., Canada, and European countries, with differing degrees of oversight and consumer protection. Here’s a breakdown of how these regions approach funeral industry regulation:

United States:

The funeral industry in the U.S. is subject to both federal and state regulations, though the extent and nature of regulation can vary widely across states.

• Federal Regulation: The most prominent regulation is the Funeral Rule, established by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 1984. This rule ensures transparency in pricing and protects consumers by requiring funeral homes to provide itemized price lists and refrain from deceptive practices. The Funeral Rule allows families to choose only the services they want without being forced into costly packages.

• State Regulation: Each state also has its own licensing and regulatory requirements for funeral directors, embalmers, and funeral homes. These often include educational requirements, examinations, and regular inspections. Many states have regulatory bodies that investigate complaints and enforce standards. However, the level of oversight can vary, and enforcement is not always consistent across states.

Canada:

In Canada, funeral services are regulated at the provincial level, with varying degrees of oversight and consumer protection depending on the province.

• Provincial Regulation: Funeral homes, directors, and embalmers are licensed and regulated by provincial authorities. Regulations often include mandatory licensing, professional standards, and consumer protections such as clear, itemized pricing.

• Consumer Protection: Like the U.S., Canadian provinces emphasize consumer rights. For instance, in Ontario, the Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO) oversees the sector, ensuring that funeral homes provide clear information to consumers and meet certain professional standards. Funeral homes are also subject to inspections, and in some provinces, trust funds must be established to ensure prepaid services are honored.

Europe:

Regulation across Europe tends to be more centralized than in North America, often with stricter oversight by national governments or local authorities.

United Kingdom:

As previously discussed, the UK has historically had limited mandatory regulation, although there are voluntary codes of conduct and some local authority oversight. The Hull incident has increased calls for more comprehensive regulation.

France:

France has one of the more tightly regulated funeral industries in Europe. The government controls many aspects of funeral services, including pricing, licensure, and the management of cemeteries. Funeral directors must meet stringent educational and professional standards, and funeral services are subject to strict consumer protection laws.

Germany:

Germany also has strict funeral industry regulations, particularly regarding burial practices. Funeral directors must be licensed, and embalming is strictly regulated. There are also legal requirements concerning how soon after death a burial or cremation must take place. Similar to France, Germany’s consumer protection laws ensure transparency and prevent unethical practices.

Italy:

Italy’s funeral industry is regulated by national laws, and there are strict rules about how services should be conducted. Funeral directors must be licensed, and certain services, such as transportation of the deceased, are strictly regulated by local authorities. Costs must be itemized, and ethical standards are enforced by both local and national regulations.

Common Themes Across Regions:

1. Licensing and Certification: Most countries require funeral directors and embalmers to be licensed, ensuring a basic level of professional competency.

2. Consumer Protection: There are generally laws or guidelines mandating clear, itemized pricing and protecting families from unfair practices, although enforcement varies.

3. Local Authority Involvement: Local or provincial authorities often oversee the operation of funeral homes, and some countries even regulate cemeteries and burial practices to ensure dignity for the deceased.

Conclusion:

Compared to other regions, particularly in Europe, the funeral industry in the UK operates with more leniency, lacking mandatory regulations like in the U.S., Canada, and many European countries. The U.S. and Canada focus heavily on consumer protection, with stringent licensing processes for funeral directors and transparency requirements around pricing. European nations, particularly France and Germany, are known for even stricter regulation, often government-controlled, ensuring high standards in the management of funeral services. The Hull incident may encourage the UK to move toward more formal oversight, aligning it with other regions globally.