Terms of business for
WestCountry Funeral Service, Plymouth
We aim to act in a professional manner and provide a courteous, sensitive and dignified service to you.
We are qualified with both the National Association of Funeral Directors and the British Institute of Embalmers and adhere to and endorse their standards and Codes of Practice.
We are also members of the National Society of Allied Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF), and similarly, we both adhere to and endorse the associated regulatory requirements and guidelines and to conform to their Code of Practice, copies of which are available by request.
1 ESTIMATES AND EXPENSES
The estimate sent to you before the funeral sets out the services which we agree to supply. This estimate is an indication of the charges likely to be incurred on the basis of the information and details we know at the date of the estimate. While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the estimate, the charges are liable to alteration particularly where third parties change their rates or charges or additional services are requested.
We may not know the amount of third-party charges in advance of the funeral; however, we give you the best estimate of such charges in the written estimate. The actual amount of the charges will be detailed and shown in the final account.
With the except of the Simple Funeral and the Direct Cremation, where we ask for full payment in advance of the funeral service being confirmed, we normally ask for a 50% deposit or amount to cover third party costs, whichever is the greater, prior to the day of the funeral.
If you amend your instructions, we may request your written confirmation of the changes and depending on the amendment, which may mean the estimate and final invoice will need to be updated.
We are a VAT registered company (Reg no: 367842458) and will add VAT to our charges, where applicable, and at the rate applicable when we prepare the invoice.
2 PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS
We require a 50% deposit, or amount to cover third party costs, whichever is the greater, once arrangements are put in place, the final funeral account is due for payment within fourteen days of receipt, unless otherwise agreed by us in writing.
If you fail to pay us in full on the due date (14 days after date of invoice) we may charge you interest:
– at a rate of 4% above our bank’s Base Rate from time to time in force; calculated (on a daily basis) from the date of our account until payment; compounded on the first day of each month; and before and after any Judgment (unless a Court orders otherwise).
3 DATA PROTECTION
Words shown in italics are defined in the Data Protection Act 1998 (“the Act”).
We respect the confidential nature of the information given to us and, where you provide us with personal data (“data”), we will ensure that the data will be held securely, in confidence and processed for the purpose of carrying out our services. In order to provide our services we may need to pass such data to third parties and those third parties, who are performing some of the services for you, may contact you directly. Under the Act you have the right to know what data we hold on you and you can, by applying to us in writing, receive copies of that data.
5 COOLING-OFF PERIOD
The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation & Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 may give you the right to terminate this agreement in the cooling-off period of fourteen days. In the event that you exercise the right to cancel this contract during the cooling-off period, you will be required to pay a reasonable amount for goods and services already supplied.
6 TERMINATIONS
This agreement may also be terminated before the services are delivered: (1) by us if you fail to honour your obligations under these Terms or if our professional relationship breaks down and (2) by you communicating to us in writing, terminating your instructions.
If we or you terminate your instructions you may, depending upon the reasons for termination, be asked to pay a reasonable amount based upon the work carried out up to the time your termination is received.
7 STANDARDS OF SERVICE
We are full members of the Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors and agree to abide in full of their Code of Practice, in terms of our professional conduct and performance. Should you believe that we fall below our Standards of Service at any point, in the first instance please let us know. If we cannot resolve the issue to your satisfaction, we would refer you to SAIF (The National Society of Independent Funeral Directors) to initiate their complaint's procedure. We are happy to provide these details should you require them.
All dates and times provided on the estimate cannot be guaranteed until final bookings are made and confirmed. Although we endeavour to provide a prompt and efficient service for you, there may be instances where, because of circumstances beyond our control, we are unable to fulfil our obligations to you on the date or time specified. Where this is the case we will make every attempt to contact you in advance, and advise you of alternative options.
8 AGREEMENT
Your continuing instructions will amount to your continuing acceptance of these Terms of Business.
If any of these terms are unenforceable as drafted:-
– it will not affect the enforceability of any other of these Terms; and
– if it would be enforceable if amended, it will be treated as so amended.
Nothing in these Terms restricts or limits our liability for death or personal injury.
This agreement is subject to English Law. If you decide to commence legal action, you may do so, in any appropriate UK Court.
9 EMBALMING
I understand that embalming is not required by law and have been given the opportunity to read the following general description.
I have also been provided the opportunity to discuss the procedure further with the funeral director to my satisfaction.
Following death there are certain changes that occur.
In order that we delay these changes and ensure that _________________________________________________
Is presented in as natural an appearance as possible, embalming can be performed.
This procedure replaces the body fluids with a chemical solution that is injected through an incision, or more if needed, depending on the condition of the deceased. The process, conducted by a qualified embalmer, takes place in a specialist embalming theatre/room and can take up to 2/3 hours. During this process we also wash and attend to the hair/shaving before dressing and then placement into the coffin that you have selected.
Complaints Policy
Complaints Policy
We are very sorry if we haven’t been able to meet your expectations and you feel the need to bring a complaint to our attention. We are always looking for ways to improve our service and customer care and can assure you that your complaint will be dealt with sympathetically, fairly and promptly.
Stage One
If there is an issue with the service you are receiving whilst you are making arrangements for a funeral, please tell us in the first instance. We may well be able to deal with any issues you have promptly and to your satisfaction.
Stage Two
If your Funeral Director is unable to resolve your issue, or you feel that the matter warrants a formal complaint, please put your complaint in writing to:
Richard Parson
Principal
Parson Funerals Ltd
91 Fore Street
Saltash
Cornwall
PL12 6AE
Telephone: 01752 844437
E-mail: richard@parsonfunerals.co.uk
Your complaint will be acknowledged within 3 working days and you will receive a response, either by telephone, in writing, or by way of a meeting within 7 working days.
If the matter cannot be resolved to your satisfaction, you have the right to refer the matter to our professional standards body SAIF (The National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors) whose Complaints Procedure is as follows;
SAIF’s Complaint Procedure
There are two steps within the complaints process:
1. Member
This is where the member’s own complaints process is instigated and works with the client to resolve the complaint.
Complainants should not submit a complaint to SAIF until they have provided the member with an opportunity to get this right.
2. SAIF’s Professional Standards Committee
SAIF’s Professional Standards Committee (our Alternative Dispute Resolution officials) are not renumerated, nor receive bonuses based on the outcome of the complaint. They can be a member of the National & Scottish Executive Committee, or a funeral director referred to the Standards Committee by the Executive Committee.
If the client is unhappy with the funeral director’s response, they can proceed to SAIF’s Professional Standards Committee, where the complaint will be investigated.
The complaints form can be downloaded here.
The form along with accompanying paperwork, should be either emailed to standards@saif.org.uk or posted for the attention of the Professional Standards Committee, SAIF Business Centre, 3 Bullfields, Sawbridgeworth, CM21 9DB.
SAIF’s full complaints procedure can be found here.
There is no charge to refer the complaint to SAIF.
SAIF can only accept complaints that are in English, and any response will be provided in English.
This complaints procedure is related to SAIF members based in England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland.
All such referrals should be made within 12 months following receipt of the response from the funeral director.
If you have any queries regarding the process, please either email standards@saif.org.uk or telephone 0345 230 6777