Dean Brothers (Formby) Ltd are members of NAFD (National Association of Funeral Directors) and SAIF (Society of Allied Independent Funeral Directors) and subscribe to their current codes of practice, a copy of which can be obtained by request. We aim to act in a professional manner and provide a courteous, sensitive and dignified service to you (the customer).
ESTIMATES AND EXPENSES
Our estimate is an indication of the charges likely to be incurred on the basis of the information and details given to us or attained by us at the time of the estimate.
While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the estimate, the charges are liable to alteration, particularly where third parties may change their rates of pay without prior to notice.
We may not know the third party charges in advance of the funeral, however we will give you the best and most accurate estimate of such charges. The actual charges will be detailed and represented in the final account.
In the case that you, the customer, amends your instructions, we may require your written instructions to confirm such changes. In the event of a change of instruction, we may make additional charges to comply with the changes requested and these will be as per our current published price list. We will add VAT to our charges where VAT is applicable and at the current rate of VAT, when the final account is prepared.
AGREEMENT
Your continuing instructions will amount to your continuing acceptance of these terms in business. Any waiver or variation of these terms is binding in honour only, unless
-made in writing
-signed by one of our company directors AND
-expressly stating an intention to vary these terms
Your instructions will not create any right enforceable (by virtue of the contracts rights of third parties act 1999) by any person not identified as ‘our client’ or ‘customer’.
If any of these terms are unenforceable as drafted
-it will not affect the enforceability of any other of these terms AND
-if it would be enforceable if amended, it will be treated as so amended.
INDEMNITY
You are to indemnify us in full and hold us harmless from all expenses and liabilities we may incur (directly or indirectly, including financing costs and including legal costs on a full indemnity basis) following any breach by you of any of your obligations under these terms. This means that you are liable to us for losses we may incur because you do not comply with these terms. For example, we will charge an administration fee where we receive a cheque from you which is subsequently not honoured or if we write to remind you that an account is overdue. If we instruct debt recovery agents against you then we may also recover the fees we incur from you. Further details regarding these fees are available on request. We may claim these losses from you at any time and if we have to take legal action we will ask the court to make you pay our legal costs.
PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS
The final funeral account is due payment within 60 days of our final
invoice unless otherwise agreed by us in writing.
If you fail to pay us in full on the date due we will charge interest at a rate of 14% per year, calculated and charged on a monthly basis.
This will be compounded on the first day of each month and before and after any judgement (unless a court orders otherwise).
We may recover the cost of taking any legal action to force payment (under clause 3).
We may after a period of 4 months, in the event that we receive no
instruction, correspondence or a payment agreement being in place,
action debt collection or a debt collection agency on our behalf for final and full payment of the account including any interest and/or legal costs incurred for the debt collection.
DATA PROTECTION
Words shown in italics are defined in the Data Protection Act 1998 (‘The Act’)
We respect the confidential nature of the information given to us and, where you provide us with personal data we will ensure that the data will be held securely, in confidence and processed for the purpose of carrying out our services only. In order to provide our services we may need to pass such data to third parties, who are performing service for you as contracted or contacted by us and they may contact you directly. Under The Act you can have the right to know what data we hold and can, by applying in writing to us and paying the current administration fee, receive copies of that data.
CONDUCT
Our code of practice requires that we provide a high quality service in all aspects. If, however, you have any questions or concerns about the service we provide or have provided for you then this must be addressed in the first instance with our designated senior person. If a resolve is not reached to your satisfaction then please contact the Funeral Arbitration Scheme at 618 Warwick Road, Solihull, West Midlands, B91 1AA, who provide independent conciliation and arbitration through the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
All dates and times provided on the estimate cannot be guaranteed until final bookings are made and confirmed. Although we endeavour to provide a prompt and efficient service for you, there may be instances where, because of circumstances beyond our control, we are unable to fulfil our obligations to you on the date or time specified. Where this is the case we will attempt to contact you in advance, using the details given, and advise you of the possible alternate arrangements.
TERMINATION
We reserve the right to terminate our services if you fail to honour your obligations under these terms and conditions. We are under no obligation to accept your termination until we receive your instructions in writing. If you terminate your instructions or we terminate our services, you will be invoiced for all third party charges which we have paid or have committed to. You will also be charged for our charges and expenses up to the point of termination.
CANCELLATION OF CONTRACTS MADE IN CONSUMERS HOME REGULATIONS 2008
Legislation dictates that there is now a 7 day ‘cooling off’ period where a contract made in the home may be cancelled. If this right is exercised and cancellation is requested then any charges that we may have committed to, cancellation fees and/or services, expenses for services and disbursements already performed or committed to would be charged to you. In the event that the cancellation right is exercised after the funeral, the full amount of charges, expenses and disbursements would be due.
COMPLAINTS
Complaints Policy
We are very sorry if we haven’t been able to meet your expectations and you feel the need to bring a complaint to our attention. We are always looking for ways to improve our service and customer care and can assure you that your complaint will be dealt with sympathetically, fairly and promptly.
Stage One
If there is an issue with the service you are receiving whilst you are making arrangements for a funeral, please tell us in the first instance. We may well be able to deal with any issues you have promptly and to your satisfaction. Please communicate with your fuenral director int he first instance as he will be ablke to resolve any minor issues.
Stage Two
If your Funeral Director is unable to resolve your issue, or you feel that the matter warrants a formal complaint, please put your complaint in writing to:
Iain Dean, Managing Director
Deans Court, Gores Lane
Formby, Liverpool
L37 7DF
Telephone: 01752 872023
E-mail: info@deanbros.co.uk
Your complaint will be acknowledged within 7 working days and you will receive a response, either by telephone, in writing, or by way of a meeting within 7 working days thereafter.
Nothing in these terms restricts or limits our liability for death or personal injury.
English law is applicable to any contracts made under these terms.
The English and Welsh courts have non-exclusive jurisdiction.
If you require further clarification of these terms please request such in writing to
Managing Director, Dean Brothers (Formby) Ltd,
Deans Court, 76 Gores Lane, Formby, Liverpool, L37