The Fair Funerals pledge was originally launched in 2015 by the charity Quaker Social Action, as part of the Fair Funerals campaign.
The aim of the pledge was to encourage funeral directors across the UK to address the national funeral poverty crisis from within the funeral industry itself. By signing the pledge, funeral directors were recognising that funerals can be expensive and many people struggle with the cost. In doing so they were also making a voluntary commitment to be open about their most affordable options and to help people find funerals within their means.
By September 2019, over 1,700 UK funeral director branches had signed the pledge; approximately 35% of the UK total.
What is the Fair Funerals pledge 2021?
The Fair Funerals campaign has come to an end. However, funeral poverty still exists.
Buying a funeral can be expensive and confusing. It is still difficult to find clear, comparable information about how much things cost and by when they need to be paid. On top of this, there are huge differences in what funeral directors charge. Without knowing what their options are, people can end up buying funerals that they can’t afford, getting into debt in the process.
Pausing the Fair Funerals pledge
Now that funeral directors are legally required to publish their prices, QSA is pausing new applications to the Fair Funerals pledge, which is a voluntary commitment to price transparency by funeral directors.
This means that:
- As of now we have stopped taking new requests to sign the Fair Funerals pledge
- Current 2021 Fair Funerals pledge signatories may continue to display pledge stickers and certificates
- Any funeral directors who have already applied to join the pledge and are awaiting a response will receive 2021 stickers and certificates if they meet the pledge requirements
- Any funeral directors who have already applied to join the pledge and are required to make changes still have the opportunity to become compliant, and will receive 2021 stickers and certificates when they do so.
Consulting on our next steps
Quaker Social Action is researching client vulnerability in the funeral sector to identify what further action we can take to try and ensure recently bereaved people are as well supported as possible when planning a funeral.
To help us with this, we would be very grateful to hear from anyone who has arranged a funeral within the last two years by completing a short survey about their experience. We are sorry for your recent loss. We are aware that this can be a sensitive topic and have carefully considered the questions included in the survey. We will also be hosting an online discussion group on Wednesday February 16, 2022, at both 12pm and 1pm. If you are interested in joining us, you can find more details at the end of the above survey.
We are also keen to hear the views of funeral directors. We would be very grateful to any client-facing funeral professional who is able to support the initial stage of this research by completing this version of the survey. We will also be hosting an online discussion group for funeral professionals on Wednesday 9th February 2022 at 9.30am - more details on this are included in the survey.