The Competition and Markets Authority market investigation into the supply of services by funeral directors.

On 16 June?2021, the?CMA?announced that it has made the?Funeral Markets?Investigation?Order 2021?to implement a package of remedies to address adverse effects on competition identified in the final report of the?funerals?and crematoria services?market?investigation. The full study can be found?here.

From 17 June 2021

Prohibition of all agreements with funeral related institutions (hospitals, care homes, hospices) that are understood to encourage, incentivise or refer customers to a particular funeral director.

Essentially, as of last week, funeral directors will no longer be able to solicit business.?

Soliciting business through the Coroner and Police Contracts

The above contracts are delivered by a funeral company with a set contract. As this funeral director is a family’s first interaction with a funeral director, the contracted funeral director is working as a service provider for an independent body as such they are not allowed to take advantage of their position.?

The following is to be in place by 3 months’ time:

All funeral directors to show a standardised price using a set price list

These prices must be show on websites, in branch windows and available physically to post to clients.

This will allow the public to make a fair like-for-like comparison between funeral directors.

Funeral directors must offer either/both – CMA standardised price for an attended funeral – CMA standardised price for non-attended funerals

It also states where their loved one will be cared for prior to the funeral – we have fully equipped mortuaries in all of our funeral homes

Disclosure of interest

Funeral Directors must display the following in a clear and prominent manner – in branch and on websites:

1. The ultimate ownership – Jackson’s are family owned but this will highlight the large companies trading under an established family name following acquisition.
2. Any business or financial interest a funeral director has in a comparison website – this removes preferential promotion in comparisons.
3. Charitable donations to a third party, charity contribution or gratuity to a third party, any other form of payment that does not relate to a cost incurred or a service provided by a funeral director.

Matt says:

“The review is thorough and timely and we welcome its findings. Jackson’s are family owned and both owners – Laura and myself – work actively within the business. We have always been visible and transparent with our pricing, as this resonates with our ethos. It allows a family to decide by themselves and not be pressured into high costing items. Our ethics are strong and we have never agreed with paid referrals or incentives.”

For Jackson’s, the family comes first and we believe that every family who have decided to engage its services have done because of our three key elements:

• Be Professional
• Be Transparent
• Be Honest?

Matt continues:

“We fully support this order in its entirety and believe it is long overdue. This is a positive step forward in giving the public an informative, clear and comparable choice with previously hidden information.”