When you appoint us, you are provided with a personal funeral planner who is your dedicated point of contact to make sure all arrangements go to your exact requirements. Your funeral planner will be in regular contact with you, in addition you can you contact us 24 hours a day to speak to a funeral professional.

Your funeral planner is contactable by email, phone and post. When you purchase a funeral package from us that includes an officiant to conduct the service we will arrange for you to meet them in person, if you wish, so you can go through your requirements of exactly what you wish them to say. If you are unsure about what should be said the officiant can guide you through and provide some helpful suggestions.

We work with all crematoria and cemeteries in the United Kingdom. For attended funerals you can choose the crematorium or cemetery. For direct cremations when there is no attendance the crematoria used is allocated by Us.

We provide a 24 hours service to collect the deceased including from care homes and private residence. An additional charge applies for residential collections. Collection from a hospital is included in our standard package prices.

Yes, we will liaise with the hospital where the deceased is resting and collect from the hospital as requested by the hospital.

Doctors’ fees are a government charge for medical certification and is a legal requirement. Due to the Shipman enquiry in the year 2000 an additional Doctor’s signature is required to certify the death in addition to the initial Doctor’s sign off. The charge for medical certification is £82; this amount is set by the government and is a pass-through cost to our clients.

Doctors’ fees are payable only for cremation in England and Wales when a post-mortem has NOT taken place. Doctors’ fees are not payable in Scotland or when the funeral type is burial.

You can have any kind of funeral service you wish including all religious and non-religious options. The typical length of service at a crematorium is 30 minutes; services at places of worship, including churches, can take longer. Your funeral planner will make sure the funeral service is arranged to your exact requirements.

For attended funerals the day and time of the funeral is agreed with you so it is on a day and time that is convenient, subject to the availability of the chosen crematorium or cemetery. A minimum of 7 days is usually required for the funeral to take place.

Yes. We have a network of partner funeral directors across the UK – when you appoint us and include viewing in the purchase price of your package a chapel of rest will be appointed local to where you live for you to visit the deceased.

The deceased will be dressed in  a coffin gown. Should you wish the deceased to be dressed in their own clothes this can be arranged for an additional charge.

It is standard practise for the coffin to be closed at the crematorium or cemetery.

All of our packages include a standard veneered coffin that includes brass effect handles. Alternative coffins can be provided including wicker, solid wood and coloured coffins for an additional charge.

Flowers are not included in our funeral packages. Flowers can be arranged by your funeral planner and the cost of the flowers will be that charged by the florist.

Your funeral planner can arrange funeral stationery for you including order of service for an additional charge.

Direct and attended cremations do not include a hearse, instead a suitable vehicle is used for transportation of the deceased. Should you choose our traditional cremation or burial package a hearse is provided to take the coffin to the funeral service location.

Music of your choice can be played at the service when the funeral is attended. Your funeral planner will arrange for your music choices to be played at the relevant times during the service including the beginning, the middle and the end.

We do not arrange headstones. Typically when a person is buried the plot needs to settle for a few months before a headstone can be erected – your funeral planner can recommend headstone providers.

Yes, many crematorium offer this facility. The price charged varies by crematorium and your funeral planner can assist with arrangements.

The cremated remains are provided in an eco box. Should you require, the cremated remains to be provided in an Urn for an additional cost – this cost will be dependent on the type of urn you choose.

For attended cremations the cremated remains can be collected from the crematorium a couple of days after the service. Should you purchase a direct cremation package which means there is no attendance the cremated remains are returned to you by private driver within 28 days of the cremation date – an express delivery service can be provided for an additional charge.

The majority of crematorium provide a web streaming and visual tribute services – your funeral planner can arrange this for you. The price charged varies by crematoria and your funeral planner will confirm what the charges are. Online tributes including online memorial pages are not provided and can be arranged by yourself or someone else.

Cremated remains art and jewellery can be purchased through many crematoria and third party companies. Your funeral planner can provide recommendations if required.

You can get a Funeral Expenses Payment if all of the following apply:

• you get certain benefits or tax credits
• you meet the rules on your relationship with the deceased
• you’re arranging a funeral in the UK, the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland

Benefits and tax credits you (or your partner) must get are to include one or more of the following:

Income Support

income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance

income-related Employment and Support Allowance

Pension Credit

Housing Benefit

the disability or severe disability element of Working Tax Credit

Child Tax Credit

Universal Credit

Rules on your relationship with the deceased

You must be one of the following:

• the partner of the deceased when they died
• a close relative or close friend of the deceased
• the parent of a baby stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy
• the parent or person responsible for a deceased child who was under 16 (or under 20 and in approved education or training)
• You might NOT get a Funeral Expenses Payment if another close relative of the deceased (such as a sibling or parent) is in work.

What you’ll get

Funeral Expenses Payment can help pay for some of the costs of the following:

• burial fees for a particular plot
• cremation fees, including the cost of the doctor’s certificate
• travel to arrange or go to the funeral
• the cost of moving the body within the UK, if it’s being moved more than 50 miles
• death certificates or other documents
• You can also get up to £1,000 for any other funeral expenses, such as funeral director’s fees, flowers or the coffin.

The payment will NOT usually cover all of the costs of the funeral.

How much you get depends on your circumstances. This includes any other money that’s available to cover the costs, for example from an insurance policy or the deceased person’s estate.

When you use our service and are claiming from DWP we require a minimum deposit of £500 to be appointed as the funeral director, should your claim not be successful you a liable to pay the funeral costs in full and any shortfall if the payment awarded is less than the amount due.

When you pay for a funeral your self you can still claim from DWP, if you meet their criteria, and DWP will reimburse you directly. If you have not paid us in full and your claim is successful DWP will pay us.

We are only able to collect the deceased in mainland UK. We can however collect from ports. Should the deceased pass away in a different country you can arrange for the deceased to be repatriated to the UK (this is usually covered by travel insurance) and we will collect form the port of arrival. There is an additional charge for arranging a funeral for a person that is repatriated to the UK due to the additional costs and administration work incurred by us.

Should you wish to publish notices in papers this it to be arranged by yourself or a nominated person(s). If you are unsure how to do this your funeral planner can help.

We do not provide probate services ourselves however we work with a national established probate provider who we can arrange to contact you to provide a free, no obligation quotation.

You can use the insurance policy of the deceased to pay for the funeral. When you contact us to make the funeral arrangements, please let us know the insurance details and we can let you know what to do. Usually you just need to provide the insurance company with a copy of the invoice for the funeral and the death certificate – sometimes the insurance company will pay us directly and sometimes they will pay the person nominated on the policy for them to pay us.

Yes, it is within the law and legal for funeral expenses to be paid for from the deceased bank account, this is because funeral costs do not need to go through probate – please note this does not include the cost of a wake. Your can pay for the funeral costs using the deceased debit card or if the account of the deceased has been frozen or closed the invoice can be taken to the bank for the payment to be made to us directly. Should the deceased bank account have insufficient funds to pay for the funeral costs then you will be liable to pay any balance due. You can NOT use a credit card of the deceased to pay for their funeral arrangements it must be a debit card.

No. We require payment in full before the funeral or cremation date. We can tell you about companies that provide funeral finance if you wish to contact them directly to pay for the funeral or cremation package on finance.

The death must be registered with the registrar at the council of the area where the deceased resided. Your funeral planner can assist in providing contact details for the registrar if you are not too sure what they are.

We do not organise wakes, this would need to be done by yourself or someone else.