Guidance

Compliance checklist for funeral directors

Updated 21 January 2025

All funeral directors must comply with the legally binding requirements of the Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021 (the Order).

This checklist will help funeral directors check their compliance with the price and service information display requirements in the Order, including:

• the Standardised Price List
• an Additional Options Price List
• local crematorium operators’ prices
• certain terms of business
• certain details relating to the disclosure of interests (including information about donations)

It also helps funeral directors check their compliance with the prohibited practices requirements in the Order.

This checklist is not legal guidance and it is not a full list of what you must do.

You should review your company’s compliance against the full text of the Order and its Explanatory Note.

Displaying a Standardised Price List 

• have you displayed a Standardised Price List in branch and on your website?​ Is it accessible no more than one click away from your homepage?
• if you don’t have a website, is the Standardised Price List displayed on other online channels where you market your business?
• does your Standardised Price List follow the exact terms and structure as required by the Order? Download the Standardised Price list template

Attended and unattended funerals

• if you offer attended funerals, have you displayed a separate price for each of the 6 listed items of the attended funeral in the Standardised Price List, as well as the associated attended funeral price, which corresponded to the sum of those items? 
• have you displayed the full Standardised Price List, even if you do not offer attended funerals, marking Attended Funerals as ‘not offered’?
• if you offer unattended funerals, have you provided on the Standardised Price List a total price for the types of unattended funeral service you offer, e.g. unattended burial funeral, unattended cremation funeral, or both?

Fees you must pay

• if you offer a burial funeral, have you provided on the Standardised Price List the price range of burial fees offered in your local area? If you do not, have you marked it as ‘Not offered’?
• if you offer an attended cremation funeral, have you provided on the Standardised Price List the price range of cremation fees offered in your local area for residents? If you do not, have you marked it as ‘Not offered’?

Additional funeral director products and services

• if you offer any of the services listed below, have you filled in the corresponding non-zero price value on the Standardised Price List:
  • additional mileage
  • additional transfers of the deceased person’s body (for example to their home or to a place of worship)
  • collection and delivery of ashes
  • embalming
• if you offer services supplied outside of normal office hours or a funeral officiant, have you marked them on the Standardised Price List as ‘price on request’?

Additional Options Price List

• have you displayed prices of all the products and services advertised on your website and in branch, even if you are not directly providing the services? These would include services such as flower arrangement, coffin, transportation and funeral jewellery options
• do you disclose prices for bespoke services before customers agree to buy them?
• is the price list available in a clear and prominent way (is it easy to find and written in simple language)?
• have you displayed your Additional Options Price List in branch and on your website?​ If you don’t have a website, is the Additional Options Price List displayed on other online channels where you market your business?

Local crematorium prices

• have you displayed the price information you received from all local crematorium operators, in the format prescribed in the Order? If offered, these must include:
  • crematorium standard fee attended service
  • crematorium reduced fee attended service
  • crematorium unattended service
• have you displayed your Additional Options Price List in branch and on your website?​ If you don’t have a website, is the Standardised Price List displayed on other online channels where you market your business?

Terms of business

• if you require customers to pay a deposit or charges for late payment of fees, have you displayed your terms of business information, in branch and on your website?
• customers might find it helpful if you specify when you don’t require customers to pay a deposit or charges for late payment of fees.

Disclosure of interests

• have you disclosed information on the ultimate owner of your business?
• does the ultimate owner information reflect whether you are a sole trader, operating under a registered company or whether your business is owned by a parent company?
• have you disclosed any ties to any price comparison websites that can result in your ability to influence their business decisions?
• have you, within 3 weeks, declared any changes in your financial ties with a price comparison website which compares funeral director services and/or crematoria services and their respective prices?
• have you disclosed all forms of contribution made to an organisation that exceeds a total of £250 within any 12-month period, at any point in time?
• is your disclosure of interests information clearly displayed in branch and on your website?
• if you made a payment to an organisation that was not related to costs incurred or services offered on behalf of these institutions, have you disclosed this information to your customers?

Prohibited practices: things you must not do

• you must not market your services (for example, by sharing marketing material, providing prices or discussing funeral arrangements with the bereaved) while providing services to a coroner or the police
• you must not make arrangements that could encourage, incentivise or require treatment with a range of institutions. These include:
  • hospitals
  • hospices
  • care homes
  • providers of bereavement services in a hospital setting
  • providers of palliative care
  • other similar institutions
• you must not make a payment or gift to a care home which could reasonably be understood to incentivise or require the care home to refer customers to your business
• you must not make agreements to advertise your services on a hospital’s written materials (for example, pamphlets, leaflets, or online) if this restricts a customer’s choice 
• have you terminated any prohibited arrangements, exchange of services or payments?

Providing financial information and compliance statements

Funeral directors with 4 or fewer branches

As a funeral director with fewer than 5 branches, you do not have to submit financial information or compliance statements to the CMA unless requested.

However, you must still comply with the other requirements in the Order.

Funeral directors with 5 to 9 branches

• have you submitted to the CMA the total number of funerals arranged and the total revenue generated from funerals you have arranged?
• have you submitted this financial information separately for each branch and in total for all branches?
• have you submitted this financial information on time (by the first working day of April and October each year)?

Funeral directors with more than 10 branches

• have you submitted to the CMA the total number of funerals arranged and the total revenue generated from funerals you have arranged?

• have you submitted this financial information separately for each branch, in total for all branches and separated by type of funeral? These are:

  • CMA attended funerals
  • other attended funerals
  • CMA unattended funerals
  • other unattended funerals
• have you submitted this financial information on time (by the first working day of April and October each year)?
• have you submitted a compliance statement to the CMA using the template found in Schedules D and E to the Explanatory Note?
• have you submitted the compliance statement on time (by the last working day of every April)?

Opening new branches 

• have you notified the CMA within 28 days of opening a branch or branches that results in your business falling into one of the following categories?:
  • operating from 5 to 9 branches
  • operating from 10 or more branches

What to do if you’re not compliant

If you find yourself in breach of the Order, you must report the breach to the CMA within 14 days of becoming aware of it.

Email: RemediesMonitoringTeam@cma.gov.uk to report any breach.

Read more on the CMA’s guidance on reporting, investigation and enforcement of potential breaches.

It’s important that you follow the requirements set out by the Order.

The CMA may seek further information about any breaches as part of an investigation into that breach. The CMA also will consider whether to carry out specific enforcement action against breaches on a case-by-case basis.

Reporting financial information and submitting compliance statements

Submit your financial information and compliance statements online