Funeral costs

We’re committed to providing transparent prices and helping people to arrange a funeral that they can afford.

All funeral directors are legally required to publish a Standardised Price List for a specified range of products and services, to help you think through your options and make choices. For all funeral arrangements, you’ll receive a written estimate provided by the funeral director or arranger.

We understand that funeral arrangements are a matter of personal preference and so, the only way of obtaining specific costings is to talk to our funeral team.

You may wish to discuss the costs and funeral arrangements with your friends and family before entering into a contractual agreement.

If any of your requests affect the final cost of the funeral, whenever possible we will advise you, in writing, or otherwise verbally, in advance of the funeral.

The funeral costs are split into two sections:

Funeral Director’s Charges: our charges for professional services, care and preparation of the deceased, vehicles and the coffin

Disbursements: these are fees paid to us so we can pay third parties on your behalf such as crematorium, burial or newspaper notice fees.

Our funeral colleagues will provide you with the actual charges applicable to the funeral arrangements during the consultation and we will provide you with a written estimate.

Please note that these prices are out of our control and so are subject to change without prior notification. Cemetery fees can vary considerably dependent upon location, grave type and depth, residency and ownership.

Please refer to the Standardised Price List and our Additional Options Price List for a breakdown of our charges.

Attended funeral

This is a funeral where family and friends have a ceremony, event or service for their loved one at the same time as their burial or cremation.

Though this carries certain restrictions, it facilitates a dignified, respectful and more affordable funeral service, which can still be personalised to reflect the lifestyle and preference of the deceased, whilst serving the needs of the family at what is a very difficult time.

An attended funeral is restricted to the provision of a wood effect coffin and fittings, viewing of the deceased by appointment during office hours only and the hearse to meet at the crematorium or cemetery.

Bespoke funerals

You may prefer to arrange a bespoke funeral service with additional service elements such as orders of service, flowers or even alternative hearses.

Should you require these services, the prices can be found on our Additional Options Price List.

Unattended funeral:

This is a funeral where family and friends choose to have a ceremony, event or service for the deceased person at a later date and not at the same time as their burial or cremation.

Payment

All our charges, along with any other goods and services requested from us, will be itemised on our invoice.

We require the client to pay the disbursements to us within 48 hours of the consultation meeting and once the forms are signed. Payments may be made by cash, cheque, BACs or credit/debit cards.

Failure to meet this request will result in a postponement of the funeral. We reserve the right to demand full payment of all costs in advance of the funeral, in certain circumstances.

The remaining final balance will be invoiced after the funeral has taken place. We require payment of the balance within 30 days of the invoice date. Click here for our Terms of Business.

Funeral dividend

Losing a loved one is never an easy time. We believe it’s important for us to help our members during this difficult experience, so we offer a funeral dividend.

Members will receive 5% dividend which will be calculated on the funeral director’s charges. This is a preferential rate of dividend as opposed to the 1% standard rate.

Receiving funeral dividend is simple. During the consultation meeting our colleagues will ask whether you or the deceased are members of Lincolnshire Co-op. We’ll then arrange to pay funeral dividend to you as long as the account is settled within 30 days.

If the deceased was a member (and not the client) the equivalent dividend is deducted from the invoice. Payments can also be made from your dividend card or share account to contribute towards the funeral expenses. Funeral dividend is governed by the terms and conditions which are available from any of our funeral homes.

Fair Funerals Pledge

We’re committed to providing transparent prices and helping people find a funeral they can afford. To show this we’ve signed the Fair Funerals Pledge.

It means that:

1. We will help people to find funerals that are within their means

2. We will be open about the price of our services, including third party costs:

• In initial conversations
• Within our price lists
• On our website

3. We will be open about the amount of any deposit we require, and when this and the final balance are due:

• In initial conversations.
• Within our price lists.
• On our website.

Financial support

In cases of financial hardship, it’s important that we are made aware at the earliest opportunity so we can advise you on how to make a claim through the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), and on how best to keep the funeral costs to a minimum.

You should be aware that even if you receive assistance from the DWP, there will still be a balance to pay. Should your claim be refused, you will be liable to pay for the full cost of the funeral.