Terms & Conditions

There are some words that we’ve capitalised in these terms and conditions. This is because they have a particular meaning which is set out below:

‘Business Day’ a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in England, when banks in London are open for business;

‘Charges’ means the fees you pay to us for providing the Services, as set out in, or calculated in accordance with the Contract;

‘Contract’ means the legally enforceable contract between you and us, and formed of these terms and conditions together with the relevant Order accepted by us;

‘Disbursements’ means any fees paid on your behalf to third-party suppliers. This includes, but is not limited to, crematorium fees, cemetery or burial fees, doctor’s fees, officiant fees, floristry costs, catering, and other related expenses incurred in providing the Services to you or as agreed between you and us for the Services;

‘Member’ means any person that is registered with us as a member, in accordance with our Membership Terms and Conditions;

‘Membership Terms and Conditions’ means the terms and conditions that govern eligibility and rights associated with being a Member and available at www.lincolnshire.coop/terms or otherwise on request from us.

‘Order’ means your order for Services as set out in your written acceptance of our quotation for Services;

‘Service(s)’ means the funeral care and related services we will provide, in accordance with the Contract;

‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’ means Lincolnshire Co‑operative Limited, a registered society (registration number IP00141R) with our registered office at Stanley Bett House, 15-23 Tentercroft Street, Lincoln LN5 7DB;

‘you’ or ‘your’ means the individual or company who enters into a Contract with us for provision of the Services.

These terms and conditions shall apply to the Contract to the exclusion of any other conditions including any that you seek to impose or incorporate, or which are implied by law, trade custom, practice or course of dealing (save for those which by law cannot be excluded).

1.1 By placing an Order with us, you confirm that you accept these terms and conditions, you are aged 18 or over, are authorised to make the funeral arrangements (and will reimburse us for any costs if this is later found not to be the case) and accept responsibility for paying all Charges and Disbursements.

1.2 Before you place your Order, we’ll ask you to complete and sign a funeral arrangement form confirming the Services you would like. We will then provide you with a quotation showing the Charges and Disbursements. We always aim to make sure these costs are accurate, but they may change if something happens that is outside of our control or if you make any changes to your Order. If this happens, we will let you know and update the Charges and Disbursements accordingly.

1.3 The Contract is formed once we confirm that we have accepted your Order. If for any reason we are unable to accept it, we will let you know as soon as we reasonably can.

We will always do our best to provide our Services with care and professionalism. This includes working with any third‑party suppliers on your behalf and aiming to meet the dates we have agreed with you. Please note that these dates are estimates, as timing can depend on things like availability, third‑party delays, or unexpected circumstances. If timings change, we will keep you updated. We can’t accept responsibilities for delays caused by third parties, events outside our control, or any delays caused by you. In these situations, our Charges and any Disbursements will still need to be paid in full. We may also need to make changes to your Order if required by law or regulation, or where the change does not significantly affect the Services, and we will make reasonable efforts to inform you if this happens.

To help us provide the best possible Service, we ask that you give us accurate information, keep your contact details up to date, and work with us throughout the process. You’ll also need to provide any documents or materials we reasonably request, and make sure they are correct. You are responsible for paying all Charges and Disbursements in line with the Contract. If we are delayed or unable to carry out our Services because information is missing or something we needed from you was not provided, we may pause our Services until the issue is resolved. We cannot be responsible for any delays or losses caused by this, and you may need to cover any costs we incur as a result.

4.1 At the end of the arrangement meeting, we will provide you with an estimated invoice which will cover our Funeral Director’s Charges as well as any third-party Disbursements. The Disbursements element must be paid within 48 hours of this estimate being provided to you. If you cannot make the payment within this timescale, please advise your Funeral Director who can offer further guidance. The Disbursement payment must be paid before we begin providing our Services. A final invoice will be issued after the funeral, with any estimates finalised and will cover the remainder of the outstanding invoice. You should typically receive this within a further 5 Business Days. Please note, any estimate provided may change if circumstances arise that are beyond our control or if you request changes to your arrangement.

4.2 All invoices must be paid within 30 days of the invoice date unless previously agreed with your Funeral Director and payment must be made in full to the bank account shown on the invoice.

4.3 We may ask you to pay some or all of the Charges in advance, and if payment is delayed, we may pause or withhold the Services until payment is received.

4.4 All Charges and Disbursements are inclusive of any value added tax (VAT) unless stated otherwise. If the rate of VAT changes between the date of the Order and the date we supply the Services, we will adjust the rate of VAT that you pay, unless you have already paid in full before the change in the rate of VAT takes effect.

4.5 If a payment is not made by the due date, we will be entitled to charge interest on the overdue amount from the date it became due until it is paid in full. Interest will be charged daily at a rate of 4% per year above the Bank of England base rate (or 4% per year if the base rate is below 0%).

5.1 Where any Contract is agreed other than in-person when attending one of our premises, you have a right to cancel the Contract during a 14‑day cooling off period (which commences the day after the relevant Contract was agreed). You may exercise this right to cancel by sending us a written notice or by completing our cancellation form which we can provide on request.

5.2 If you want us to begin the Services during any cooling off period, please let us know when you place your Order. By giving this consent, you agree that we may start the Services straight away and understand that if you later choose to cancel, you may still have to pay Charges for the work already carried out, which in some cases may be up to 100% of the total Charges and any Disbursements that cannot be recovered from third-party suppliers.

5.3 If you wish to cancel after the cooling off period, this will be at our discretion. We will charge a fair proportion of the Charges and Disbursements for the Services already carried out, and in some situations, you may remain responsible for the full Charges, including any Disbursements that cannot be recovered from third‑party suppliers.

5.4 If you have paid Charges in advance for Services that have not yet been provided, a refund may be due. Any refund minus any processing fees will be paid within 21 days to your nominated bank account.

5.5 If you want to amend your Order, please contact us and we will let you know if this is possible. Any approved changes may affect the Charges or Disbursements.

5.6 By agreeing to these terms, you understand that in some situations you may not be able to recover Disbursements that we have already paid to a third‑party supplier on your behalf, and you may still be responsible for Disbursements we have agreed to pay. We will try to assist you, but we cannot guarantee that a third‑party supplier will accept any request for a cancellation or amendment. If a third‑party supplier refuses your request, we will not be liable for any direct or indirect loss, and you will remain responsible for paying those Disbursements.

5.7 We may suspend or terminate the supply of the Services under this Contract if:

• 5.7.1 You do not pay the Charges or Disbursements when they are due;
• 5.7.2 You break the terms of the Contract in any material way, and you do not correct the issue within 7 days of us asking you to do so in writing.

Some of our Services, such as those involving horse‑drawn vehicles or dove releases, rely on the wellbeing of animals or operation of specialist vehicles. Very occasionally, illness, weather or mechanical issues may mean these parts of the Service cannot go ahead as planned. As these circumstances are outside our control, we are unable to accept responsibility for any delays or changes that may arise as a result.

We sometimes use trusted third‑party suppliers to carry out parts of the Services. Once we have accepted your Order and received the required payment, we will pay these suppliers on your behalf. These third‑party suppliers are responsible for the Services they provide and, in most cases, they invoice us directly, with the cost passed on to you as a Disbursement. We cannot accept responsibility for the actions or omissions of any third‑party supplier, but when we receive any promises or commitments from them, we will make reasonable efforts to pass these on to you.

If you wish to complain about the Services, then please contact us directly. You can contact our Customer Care team for any Service-related enquiries or complaints on 01522 781135 (Monday-Friday 8.30am-5pm excluding bank holidays) or by sending us a message via email to customer.care@lincolnshire.coop.

Your complaint will be acknowledged within 4 Business Days of receipt and your complaint will be assigned to a member of the funeral team who will contact you with further information in the first instance. We aim to resolve any query as it is raised with us, usually within 15 Business Days from receiving it.

If our Customer Care team are unable to resolve the complaint initially, we will investigate further and your complaint will then be assigned to the Head of the Funeral Team who will contact you with further information within 10 Business Days. At this stage if you are unsatisfied, you can escalate your complaint to the National Association of Funeral Directors (‘NAFD’) whose contact details can be found at www.nafd.org.uk. Both parties agree to be bound by the decision of the NAFD with regards your complaint. In the event that the NAFD are unable or unwilling to hear the relevant complaint, either you or we can progress the matter in accordance with any right or entitlement permitted by law.

When you use our Services, we process personal data about you, such as name, contact details, membership number, where necessary to fulfil our contractual obligation to you. We may also share your details with our trusted third-party providers or partners who support the delivery of our Services. Further information about how we collect, use, share and store personal data, including your data protection rights and how to contact us, is set out in our website privacy policy.

10.1 We do not limit or exclude our responsibility for anything the law does not allow us to limit or exclude, such as fraud, death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or any breach of your consumer rights.

10.2 Except as needed to give effect to the above: (i) we are not responsible for losses that were not foreseeable, losses caused by events outside our control, or losses you could have avoided by taking reasonable steps, and (ii) our total responsibility to you otherwise for any loss or damage arising under or in connection with the Contract is capped at the total Charges you have paid for the Services.

11.1 The Contract is between you and us. No other person has rights to enforce any of its terms.

11.2 This Contract is personal to you and you cannot transfer this Contract or any of your rights or responsibilities under it to anyone else unless we agree to this in writing first.

11.3 Any changes to the Contract must be put in writing and signed by both parties, or by their authorised representatives.

11.4 If a court or other authority decides that some of these terms are unlawful, it will not affect the rest of its terms. Each term operates separately and if a court finds one illegal the rest will remain in full force and effect.

11.5 Even if we delay in enforcing the Contract, we can still enforce it later. For example, if you miss a payment and we do not chase you for it and we provide the Services, we can still require you to make the payment at a later date.

11.6 The Contract is governed by English law and you can only bring legal proceedings in the English courts.

11.7 You agree that we may carry out a credit check with a credit reference agency, this helps us confirm your identity and assess any risk before providing the Services. The agency will record that a credit check has been made, and this may be seen by other organisations. We will only use the information from the check to assist us to determine whether we can provide the Services.

You may benefit from exclusive Member prices or other Member benefits we offer from time to time when arranging a funeral with us. To receive these benefits, you must already be a Member at the time you arrange the funeral, and you will need to provide your membership details when you place your Order. Further terms may apply in accordance with the current Membership Terms and Conditions.

We may introduce you to third‑party providers for other services. If you choose to use these services and enter into a contract directly with the third-party, we may receive a commission from them for that referral. This commission is paid to us by the third-party and does not affect the price you pay for their services. We are not responsible for the services provided by any third‑party provider, and any contract will be between you and the third party. We will only make a referral with your express consent. Before sharing any information, we will explain what the referral involves and what information would be shared.