Why the Quality of Funeral Services is So Important
Funerals give us no reason for joy, but they are inevitable. The funeral market today provides excellent services to those who have lost their loved ones.
Today, it’s easy to plan a funeral that reflects the life of the deceased person and celebrate it in a personalized and respectful way. A good funeral director offers a wide range of services but also knows how to listen to families and includes personal, meaningful elements in every ceremony.
Here is a brief overview of the funeral market in the UK, the services typically offered by funeral directors, and some good reasons why it’s so important to choose an establishment that provides quality services.
The funeral market in the UK
The UK funeral market is estimated to be worth around £1 billion annually. Every year, over 600,000 funerals take place and the British use services of an estimated 4000 funeral directors. Since the profession is not regulated, that number might be even higher.
The price range for funeral services is extensive as pricing differs not only between regions but even individual homes in the same area. It is recommended that families that require funeral services compare like for like quotes.
Funeral directors can do their job part-time, as a sideline venture, run a small- or med-sized business or even as part of an international corporation. Funeral homes that carry traditional family business names might in fact be part of a larger group.
The vast majority of funeral homes are members of one or more trade associations. It’s smart to choose a funeral director who is part of the National Association of Funeral Directors or the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF). Both of these organizations have particular codes of practice that ensure high quality of service.
Most common funeral services
In general, funeral costs include fees for funeral directors, as well as services the funeral director pays for on your behalf. The latter are cold third-party costs or disbursements. And they range from crematorium or cemetery fees to the newspaper announcement about the death. Look for funeral directors who list all these costs in their quote. You may also be asked to pay fees to the local authority for burial or cremation.
Quality funeral establishments such as Funeral Partners provide reliable services and take care of all the arrangements required for the funeral. Such companies will help you register the death and ensure that all documentation is prepared on time.
They should also be the ones to book the crematorium or cemetery, take care of the deceased person’s body and prepare it for the funeral. When choosing your funeral director, make sure that the company he or she belongs to has other staff at hand ready to help you any moment.
Moreover, funeral organizations provide liveried staff who attend the funeral ceremony. A quality funeral director will provide various options for moving the body (carriages, limousines, motorcycles). They should also offer a range of coffins, from traditional wooden ones to picture coffins or even cardboard coffins, as well as a selection of flowers for decoration.
Saying goodbye to a loved one is a serious moment that requires care and consideration. That’s why it’s so important to choose a quality funeral service that allows full flexibility in personalization to create a ceremony the family will remember for the years to come.
