Confirmation of Funeral Arrangements

These are the terms and conditions under which we will provide the funeral services that you have requested from McDonald and Tomlin Funerals Ltd. Please ensure that you read these terms and conditions carefully and check that the details set out are complete and accurate before you sign.

By signing these terms and conditions, you accept full liability and agree to be fully responsible for the cost of funeral arrangements.

Definitions

When the following words are used in this agreement, this is what they mean:

"Agreement'' means the written agreement between us and you, including the terms and conditions below.
"We, us, or our", means McDonald and Tomlin Funerals Ltd., a limited liability company registered in England and Wales with number 14675926.
The cancellation period has the meaning given in the section entitled "Right to cancel."
A DWP funeral payment is a registered payment offered by the Department of Work and Pensions intended to help pay for the funeral.
External payments are the fees relating to external suppliers who we may instruct on your behalf and who will provide certain funeral services requested by you as set out below in the section on external payments, which we are charged for in addition to our funeral director charges.
Funeral director charges are the fees we charge for the funeral services we provide to you, as detailed in our price list. Our funeral director's charges do not include any external payments.
"You" or "your" means the person signing this agreement.

Eligibility

When arranging a funeral, it is important that you are authorised to give us the instructions we need to arrange the funeral on your behalf and that you can make decisions regarding the funeral details. As the person making and confirming the arrangements with us, you are also the person responsible for making payments to us.

By signing this agreement, you confirm that:

You are over 18 years old.
You are authorised to make the funeral arrangements.
You are not aware of any person who may disagree that you have the authority to make the funeral arrangements.
You will make the payments to us as set out in this agreement.

Our Terms

We are here to help you arrange the funeral you want for the person who has died, and this agreement is a confirmation of the arrangements you have chosen.

We have set out this agreement as clearly as possible to ensure that you understand the conditions under which we will arrange the funeral on your behalf. If you do not understand any part of this agreement, please speak with one of our representatives; we’ll be happy to explain it to you. The agreement between us is in writing so that you and we are clear on what has been agreed upon. Therefore, any changes to it must be in writing and agreed to, and signed by both you and us.

Cost of the Funeral

The final cost of the funeral shall be the sum of:

Our funeral director charges (professional fees) as set out in our price list.
Any external payments as set out in the disbursements/external payments section. VAT is not payable on the services but may be payable for certain elements of the funeral that we arrange on your behalf and that may be provided by external suppliers, for example, tributes, orders of service, catering, etc. Where VAT is payable on an element of the services we provide to you, it will be charged at the prevailing rate.

We will include any cost revisions we may agree on with you, either orally or in writing.

Our Service to You

Our staff's premises facilities services and expertise will be available to you whenever you require them, and we can be contacted during our standard business hours, from 9 AM to 4 PM, Monday-Friday. Outside of this timeframe, our availability is reserved solely for urgent matters necessitating immediate attention, such as the coordination of deceased collection*. We will advise and guide you on all aspects of the funeral.

We can visit you at home to discuss individual requirements if you prefer, and we will take instructions accordingly.

* There may be additional costs for some facilities and use of our premises; please refer to the price list.

We will prepare, collect, and distribute the documentation and pay on your behalf all external payments necessary to allow the funeral to legally proceed.

At an additional cost, we can provide complimentary services, including printed orders of service, catering, etc.

We will make arrangements for cremated remains, including collection per your instructions (not available at the unattended funeral).

We will remain available for aftercare, advice, guidance, and additional services as required.

Our Service to the Person who has Died

We will bring the person who has died into our care at the earliest possible time using fully trained people, specialist vehicles, and equipment. The person who has died will be treated with the utmost care, respect, and dignity throughout.

We will wash, prepare, and care for the person who has died. We can dress them in their clothes, as provided by you, or you may choose for us to provide a gown.

Where we can, we will follow any instructions given regarding the presentation, including your wishes on hairstyle or makeup, and care for all personal effects. You’re welcome to visit the person who has died at a funeral home by appointment on a day and time to suit you (restrictions apply to the unattended funeral

Our Embalming Service

We will discuss embalming, including the associated fees, with you so that you can make an informed decision.

Your Appointed Funeral Director

A specially trained funeral director will be appointed to personally oversee your chosen arrangements and will guide and support you every step of the way. You’ll be personally contacted by them in advance of the day of the funeral to ensure all your requirements are met and to confirm the arrangements in place.

Your funeral director will prepare in advance all locations for the service and committal and ensure your instructions for floral tributes, orders of service, music, and any other services arranged by us on your behalf are followed.

On the day of the funeral, they will be present at your side throughout to supervise the occasion and direct all those attending accordingly. They will also ensure sufficient pallbearers are available.

Coffins and Caskets

Coffins and caskets are supplied by a third party. Once you have selected a coffin or casket, we will contact our third-party supplier, and once the coffin or casket has been delivered, we will carefully place your loved one inside.

Hearses and Limousines

Hearses and limousines will be provided by our third-party supplier. The costs associated with this will be discussed with you and will be detailed on the price list.

Additional Services

We offer a range of additional services to complement your chosen arrangements. Please refer to our price list for further details. We can also make, on your behalf, a number of external payments to allow the funeral to proceed.

The Unattended Funeral

We all offer a basic unattended funeral (direct burial or direct cremation), which provides a dignified but limited and economical service.

The unattended funeral includes:

Bringing the person who has died into our care during office hours and within 20 miles of our address
Looking after the person who has died within a controlled environment and arranging a basic funeral.
Providing basic transportation of the deceased and the necessary staff to convey the deceased directly from our mortuary to the nearest cemetery or crematorium
the York coffin. Alternative coffins can be provided at an additional cost.

The unattended funeral does not include:

Access to our chapel of rest or any other services or facilities outside of normal office hours
Bringing the deceased into our care outside of normal office hours or over a distance of 20 miles. If this is necessary, additional charges will apply. Please refer to the price list.
Any embalming or preservation service.
There is limited choice in the date and time of the funeral. Typically, this means that service at the cemetery or crematorium will take place before 10:30 a.m.
We will not be able to collect or store cremated remains on your behalf.

External Payments

We use external suppliers to provide certain elements of the funeral services, for example, the minister or officiant, florist, caterers, etc. We can make all the arrangements with external suppliers for you. By arranging these elements on your behalf, we will save you the time and effort of making these arrangements yourself.

External payments are required to pay our external suppliers. Those external payments are in addition to our funeral director's charges. Our external suppliers require us to settle any payments to them before the funeral takes place; therefore, we will require you to make all payments in advance of the funeral.

VAT may be included in external payments, and we will charge you any VAT that we pay as part of our external payments.

If you are late to the cemetery or crematorium, they may impose a late fee. We reserve the right to request a holding payment in such instances. This holding fee will only be charged to you if we are charged by the cemetery or crematorium.

Estimates, Revisions and Reductions

Our estimate is based on the prices that we have shown or told you about the different arrangements available and what you told us about the type of arrangement that you would like. We will contact you closer to the date of the funeral to get your instructions on any items that you have not decided upon. When you confirm which arrangement you want, we will charge you the price that our external supplier has confirmed. Confirmation of the final arrangements will be made both orally and in writing. Any revised or additional costs will be detailed in our invoice to you.

If you have not yet confirmed a particular element of an arrangement, please do so as soon as possible and no later than 4 days before the funeral; otherwise, it may not be possible to have the arrangements that you want. Any additional arrangements made where there are 7 days or less before the funeral must be paid for in full immediately before we will agree to make the arrangements.

We reserve the right to charge an additional fee if you request a funeral that takes place over the weekend, during a bank holiday, or at an unusual hour.

If we need to make arrangements to repatriate the person who has died to an area outside of England, an additional charge will apply. We will charge you reasonable additional costs or the cost charged to us by external suppliers.

In addition, transport to or from a distance greater than 20 miles from our address will incur an additional charge.

We will contact you to tell you about any changes in the cost of the funeral arrangements and will ask you for your instructions before revising any estimates. We will confirm your final decision with you orally and in writing. Any additional costs will be detailed in our invoice to you.

We may also charge reasonable extra amounts to reflect the effect of any change in regulations, tax laws, or generally accepted practises that affect the cost of the funeral.

Reductions will occur when you notify us in writing that you no longer require one or more of the services or items you initially indicated and that the cost has not been incurred by us. For example, if you notify us that you no longer require a limousine on the day of the funeral and we have sufficient time to cancel it without incurring any cancellation costs, this reduction will be passed on to you.

Payment

For attended funerals, a 50% deposit must be paid within 72 hours of making and confirming the funeral arrangements. Full payment of the remainder to cover the total cost of the funeral is required at least 7 days before the date of the funeral. For unattended funerals, the full amount must be paid within 5 days of making the funeral arrangements.

You can pay by cash or bank transfer.

We reserve the right to cancel the funeral arrangements if there is a failure to make payment as detailed above.

We will send you a final invoice confirming the total cost of the funeral as soon as all arrangements have been finalised. The final invoice will be itemised so that you can see clearly what we have arranged for you and what you must pay for. Any payments you’ve already made to us in advance of the funeral will be subtracted from the final invoice, and the final balance will be clearly shown in the invoice.

If you send our invoice to a solicitor or someone else for payment, then please let us know in advance. Please remember that you will still be responsible for the payment even if you forward the invoice to someone else to pay.

If you have made or intend to make an application for a DWP funeral payment or any other financial assistance or grant to help you pay for the funeral, it is likely, this will likely only cover part of the funeral amount you owe us. In some cases, an application for DWP funeral payment or any other financial assistance or grant may not be successful or only be partially successful. It is important to remember that you will still be responsible for paying the outstanding money due to us.

If you or the person expecting to pay in full fail to do so in line with the terms of this agreement, then we may charge interest to you on the overdue amount at a rate of 8% a year or, if different, such other amount as may be prescribed by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002 or any amended or successful legislation, plus reimbursement costs of any expenses made by us, unless we have agreed on alternative arrangements with you. The level of interest will be charged from the date on which the payment was due until the date on which it is repaid in full, and you must pay the interest together with any overdue amount.

Valuables

If you decide to leave any jewellery or valuables with the person who has died, or if you choose to display these items for those visiting our chapel of rest, you’ll be doing so at your own risk.

You should not assume that we are aware of the jewellery or other valuables of the person who has died. Even if we are aware of them, we cannot accept responsibility for their safekeeping unless we have signed a form that itemises them and says that we will look after them. In those circumstances, one of our representatives will take reasonable care of the items.

Our Liability to You

If we fail to comply with this agreement, we are responsible only for the loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of a breach of the agreement or our negligence.

We do not exclude or limit, in any way, our liability for:

death or personal injury caused by negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents, or external suppliers
fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation
any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded by law.

There are no provisions in this agreement that affect your statutory rights. In particular, your rights are not affected by any provision that may have the effect of limiting our liability to you in the event that any service we provide is defective or fails to correspond with the description of the services we have provided.

Advice about your legal rights is available from your local citizens' advice bureau or trading standards office.

How to Contact Us

Should you need to contact us, our details are as follows:

Address: 197 Rye Lane, London, SE15 4TP

Telephone: 0207 0185 460

Email: info@mandtfunerals.co.uk

How We use Your Information

We will use the personal information you provide to us to:

provide you with the services you have requested from us
contact you to confirm the arrangements
make arrangements for you with external suppliers
process your payment for the services you have requested.

Other than as stated above, we will not give your data to any third party unless we are required to do so by law or regulation or you give us your permission to share your information with third parties.

Right to Cancel

You have the right to cancel this agreement within 14 days of entering into it (the cancellation period). If you wish to cancel this agreement, you must notify us in writing or via telephone.

Provided we receive such notification within the cancellation period, we will refund all the money you have paid within 14 days of our receiving notification of the cancellation.

If you decide to cancel this agreement after we have commenced the arrangements or services but before the end of the cancellation period, you may be required to pay for any services that we have supplied during the cancellation period, and you will be responsible for all reasonable costs incurred by us up to the date of cancellation. Such reasonable costs will be deducted from any refund due to you and detailed on our invoice to you; if no refund is due to you for such costs, then this will also be detailed on our invoice to you.

Please note that cancellation for any of our vehicles (hearse(s), limousine(s), horse drawn carriage etc) with less than 24 hours’ notice will incur a £230 cancellation fee (per vehicle). The late cancellation fee for an alternative hearse is £300.

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