At the end of December 2021, UK anti-poverty charity Quaker Social Action (QSA) paused new applications from funeral directors to sign its âFair Funeralsâ pledge: a voluntary commitment to funeral price transparency. Since September 2021, UK funeral directors have been required to publish their prices and third party fees both online and in branch, using a standardized price list for key elements. This is legally required by the Competition and Markets Authority, following its detailed investigations into the funeral industry over the past three years. QSA has been campaigning for clearer funeral pricing since the launch of its Fair Funerals pledge in 2015. While it believes that price transparency could still go further, QSA is pleased that many elements for which it campaigned have been included in the requirements. QSA, which runs a UK-wide helpline for people struggling with the cost of a funeral, is researching client vulnerability in the funeral sector to identify what further action it can take to ensure recently bereaved people are well-supported when planning a funeral. As an initial step in this research in early 2022, QSA asked bereaved people who had recently organized a funeral and client-facing funeral professionals to share their experiences via surveys and online discussion groups. QSA received a strong response to the surveys and is currently analyzing the results.
Learn more: Quaker Social Action
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