Funeral Industry under Scrutiny in the News… and its about time!

Written by Director, Gareth Coles:

If you’ve listened to the news over the weekend you may well have picked up a story that is also making newspaper headlines – about the price of funerals, the choice available to people, and the conduct of companies selling pre-paid funeral plans. In the last couple of days, Ministers have launched investigations into unscrupulous funeral plan providers whilst Watchdog is examining ‘at need’  funeral price rises – and I for one am very happy to hear it…Whilst funeral trends have changed over the years and many people now choose to plan ahead, we meet families on a daily basis here in Cardiff who need to arrange their loved one’s funeral and have no plan to work to. They’re grieving, confused, and they have a lot to do. They’re also worried about respecting their loved one’s wishes and doing right by them.

 

More often than not, the family members who visit us have not arranged a funeral before, and they’re looking for someone to help them and guide them through the process, including: contacting their family GP, registering the death, personalising arrangements for the service and communicating the details.

 

At Coles, we believe this is where we can add the most value to you. We know the industry, the many and varied options available (for transport, venue, disposal, service and memorials etc) and the costs – and we take time to ensure we share all our insight with you, so that you can arrange the best, most personal service you can, within your budget.

 

If you navigate to the ‘About Us’ section of our site, you’ll see our aim has always been to: Give you peace of mind and to help you make the right decisions for you and your family. And this includes arranging a funeral at the right price for you. Whenever our team arranges a funeral, we follow a transparent procedure – providing a written estimate there and then, followed by a computer generated full confirmation which in most cases is delivered to you at least a week prior to the funeral day, followed by the final invoice after the funeral.

 

But it’s worth noting that not all funeral directors are the same. The funeral industry is not regulated in the same way that other financial services are regulated, despite the fact that many funeral directors now offer pre-paid funeral services – and unfortunately, not all these businesses are reputable. And in other parts of the funeral market, there are now big conglomerates and third party insurance companies that are also selling funeral plans. These companies have little to no understanding of the personal side of death care or the true requirements of each customer – they simply view the funeral plan as a financial transaction.

 

The bad practice of these companies brings good businesses into disrepute. So at Coles Funeral Directors – we welcome the recent scrutiny into the funeral industry and look forward to some big changes.

 

When you take out a funeral plan with Coles, you’re taking it out directly with us. Each plan is bespoke and created to reflect your exact requirements, and priced according to our current prices (which you can find online here). No arbitrary figures or vague promises. The money you pay into your plan is put in trust until it is needed in the future. We’ll take care of you with the same attention to detail, care and compassion – whether you need us now, or in the future.

 

If you would like to know the specific cost of any element of a Coles funeral and you can’t find it on our website – or if there is any information you feel is missing from our site, I’d welcome your feedback so please do get in touch directly. Honesty and transparency are important to us…