Funeral Costs and Disbursements
We comply with the code of practice of the National Society of Allied & Independent Funeral Directors and the guidelines laid down by the Office of Fair Trading which state that itemised estimates should be presented before the funeral and that price lists should be available to the public. We do not hide our prices and believe in complete transparency and fairness.
Funeral Service Costs: Correct at 01/01/2009
| Our Professional Fees which provide the following services: |
£999.00 |
- Making all necessary arrangements for the funeral.
- Provision of staff and suitable premises, including mortuary facilities, preparation of the deceased and chapel of rest
- Preparation and delivery of essential documentation.
- Ordering and acceptance of floral tributes.
- A keepsake memorial book.
- Acceptance and forwarding of memorial donations (where applicable).
- Advice on registration and related matters.
- The attendance and guidance of your designated funeral director at the service.
- Making all necessary arrangements for the interment of cremated remains (when applicable).
- Removal of deceased Monday –Friday 9am-5pm (Within a 20 mile radius of our offices)
| Removal of deceased out of hours including Bank holidays (Within a 20 mile radius of our offices ) Out of area charges are dependent on distance and priced on request |
£113.00 |
| Standard Hearse - local area |
£190.00 |
| Standard Limousine to seat six - local area (includes use of child booster seat where required) |
£190.00 |
| Coffin/Casket Charges (Coffin Dependent) | From £260.00 |
| Embalming, dressing and preparation | £128.00 |
| Funerals of children aged 0 – 11 |
at cost only |
| Interments of Cremated Remains |
|
| Cremated remains Caskets |
From £78.00 |
| Our labour |
£123.00 |
Basic Funeral Service:
A simple or basic funeral is comprised of the following elements:
- Making all necessary funeral arrangements and providing professional advice, funeral director and all necessary staff
- Removal of the deceased to a suitable resting place allowing 10 running miles within normal working hours.
- Provision of a simple, veneered coffin and conveyance by hearse direct to a local cemetery or crematorium.
Our charge for a basic funeral is £1449 plus all necessary disbursements.
Disbursements
Disbursement is the term given to a range of fixed costs passed on by relevant authorities which are in addition to the Funeral Directors main costs. Funeral Directors are not responsible for setting these costs; we simply collect these fees from the client and pay them out again to the various establishments. This is done as a courtesy to our clients. It spares you, our client, the need to pay many different people and often speeds up the process of organising the funeral. Most of these payments have to be made before or on the day of the Funeral. Examples of disbursements are payments to crematoria, cemeteries, ministers, churches, organists, florists, doctors, and newspapers.
The cost of the disbursements are identical for all Funeral Directors, but they can significantly add to the cost of a funeral, so please make sure any prices you are quoted include disbursements.
Because no two funerals are identical, it's impossible to say here exactly how much the disbursements will be. As a guide the current cost (01/01/2010) of a cremation at Tunbridge wells, including the organist, payable to Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, is £480: Doctors Cremation Certificates (2) - payable to the Doctors are £73.50 each and the cost of a Minister of religion is around £114. Please contact us for other fees. The written estimate that we will send with your confirmation will detail all disbursement payments.
Our terms
- Whenever possible disbursements should be paid in advance of the funeral.
- In any event, we are unable to purchase the burial rights for new graves due to the high costs involved. We will assist you with such a purchase directly from the burial authority.
- The invoice will follow after the funeral and should be settled within 30 days.
- Interest on accounts outstanding after 30 days will be added at 1.5% per calendar month.
- Should the account be passed for collection, collection charges will be added to the account
- A discount of £50 will be made for invoices settled within 7 days of the funeral.
Although very rare, there are occasions when third parties let us down.
Our priority will always be the funeral of your loved one. However, that priority may not always be shared by third parties whom we instruct on your behalf. We are therefore unable to accept liability for the failures or omissions of any third party.