Best Funeral Directors
Please view our List of recommended Funeral Directors
You are in charge!
If you are arranging a funeral, you are in charge. Your dead person is your responsibility. By law you must do certain things which a funeral director is not allowed to do. You must register the death. You must apply for cremation or burial. You must see it all through and you must demonstrate that you did.
Funeral directors undertake to do those other jobs, and only those other jobs, that you are allowed to delegate to them. That’s why they are also called undertakers. No law requires you to employ one.
What needs to be done?
When someone dies their body must be looked after. On the day of the funeral their body must be transported to the burial ground or the crematorium.
You can engage a funeral director to do all or some of these jobs for you.
A funeral director will be able to put you in touch with other service providers—a celebrant, a florist, a caterer. A funeral director is also allowed to do a certain amount of paperwork for you and pay certain bills (disbursements, they call them) on your behalf. These include fees to doctors, celebrant, organist and crematorium or burial ground.
Remember: funeral directors are in business to make money. Treat the transaction the same as you would that with any service provider. Check all terms and conditions carefully. You are protected by consumer protection laws. Check out your position here: http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/fact-sheets/page38337.html.
The right funeral director for you
A really good funeral director will guide you through unfamiliar territory, make suggestions and help you create a send-off for your dead person which will be, both, worthy of that person and, also, of immeasurable emotional value to you. Of all the services a funeral director offers, this is the one with far and away the highest value. Some—just some—are brilliant at it.
You can, of course, do these jobs yourself.
In addition, an undertaker will be able to put you in touch with other service providers – a celebrant, a florist, a caterer. He or she is allowed to do a certain amount of paperwork for you and pay certain bills (disbursements, they call them) on your behalf. These include fees to doctors, celebrant, organist and crematorium or burial ground.
Many are awful. That’s why this Guide is important.
When searching for a good funeral director, don’t bother looking for professional qualifications. Many of the very best funeral directors have none. It really doesn’t matter.
Personal qualities matter most.
The person who you are looking for is someone like you: someone who will listen to you, understand you, see where you’re coming from and interpret your needs and wishes.
The right funeral director for one person may not necessarily be the right funeral director for someone else. You have to make a subjective judgement. Go with your gut feeling.
We have selected funeral directors who, we think, try hardest to get alongside their clients, give them all the time they need and do their best for them. The reviews are written in a way which ought to enable you to answer the only question that matters: ‘Is this my sort of person?’.
How do we decide who’s the best?
These are the criteria we have used in selecting the best funeral directors:
- Evidence of dedication, emotional intelligence and a pleasing personality.
- The desire to work collaboratively with clients. Flexibility. Awareness that a funeral is, for the client, a more or less participative event.
- Willingness to make as much time as the client needs.
- Absence of self-importance. Awareness that the funeral belongs to the client, not to the funeral director.
- Highly personal service. Commitment to seeing it through with the client. No delegation to funeral arrangers. No appointment of a stranger on the day to conduct the funeral.
- Awareness of trends in client expectations and evidence of a desire to embrace change.
Note: The Good Funeral Guide does not recommend any branch of Co-operative Funeralcare. There are three reasons for this. First, we receive far too many complaints about Funeralcare’s standards of service. Second, even though Funeralcare enjoys significant economies of scale, its average charge for a funeral is higher than most independent firms. We think it deplorable that the ‘people’s undertaker’ should cost consumers so much. Lastly, Funeralcare has de-recognised the GMB Union. This, we believe, betrays its founding principles and renders it ethically redundant. You can decide for yourself by considering the GMB’s case. You will find it here: http://www.gmb.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=95715 We have not, in spite of frequent requests, received a defence of its actions from Co-operative Funeralcare.
Is there an undertaker out there who you would like to recommend? Do let me know in complete confidence. Email charles@goodfuneralguide.co.uk.