Co-op backs campaign to tackle rising funeral costs
Co-op Funeralcare are the first to sign up to the new enhanced Fair Funerals pledge by improving the way prices are displayed on its website.
The enhanced Fair Funerals pledge is a step up from the existing pledge and asks that funeral directors help people to find funerals within their budget by displaying the full price of affordable options online, including third party costs.
The first version of the pledge was launched in June 2015 and attracted 560 signatories – around 15 percent of the funeral industry.
Today’s announcement means that the total number of funeral directors signed up to tackle funeral poverty now accounts for just over a third of the industry (over 1,500 funeral homes nationwide.)
The Fair Funerals campaign was set up by anti-poverty charity Quaker Social Action to tackle the root causes of funeral poverty.
Heather Kennedy, Fair Funerals campaign manager said: “When we’re grieving, talking about money is often the last thing we want to do, and calling around different funeral directors to compare costs can seem really daunting.
“So it’s absolutely essential that funeral directors put prices on their websites. Unfortunately most funeral directors don’t do this.”
“Even though most funeral directors don’t put their prices online, this is starting to change. A lot of companies are recognising the value to grieving people of online price transparency and are getting ahead of the curve. If people notice their local funeral director doesn’t have prices on their website, we encourage them to ask “why?””
