Trust Centre : Our Terms of Business, Policies and Procedures

Our Contractual Terms of Business

Thank you for considering Amanda-Louise Funeral Services’ to arrange this funeral. We will work hard to deliver the funeral that is right for you and for the person whom has died in a smooth and dignified way. This document details our terms and conditions, which we are required to issue with regards the terms on which we are providing our services to you.

Our ethos is being transparent, to speak in plain language, be honest and provide clear and concise information.  The Executive Summary shown here identifies the key points of our terms and conditions, although of course please do read the whole document for its full contents.

Amanda-Louise’s  Terms & Conditions – Executive Summary (Key Points)

·         We assume that you have the right to arrange the funeral of the  person who has died. This means that you have agreed with other relatives and  anyone else with rights about the type of funeral that you are arranging. It  also means that you have the mental capacity to make such decisions.

·         You are totally responsible for all costs of the funeral that you  ask us to arrange on your behalf.

·         You will ensure we are paid in full, three working days before the  date of the funeral (for attended funerals) and on booking our services (for  unattended funerals).

·         If you are applying for funds from the Government or other sources,  such as Charities, and if they do not fund you the total amount of the  funeral costs, you will responsible for paying the outstanding amount.

·         If you are receiving monies from the Government or other sources  such as Charities, Solicitors, Life Plans and they cannot pay our fees in our  timely manner, then we reserve the right to apply an admin charge of £250 on  top of our total costs.

·         If you are unable to pay our fees, then we ask that you talk to us  as soon as possible. If you fail to pay on the timelines indicated on  the invoice we will supply to you, we may charge interest on the late payment  of invoices at the rate of 4% above base lending rate of NatWest Bank from  the due date for the payment up to and including the date of the actual  payment. We may recover the cost of taking legal action to make you pay,  including a third-party company to collect the balance on our behalf who may  also add their fees, charges and interest.

·         You have the right to cancel your  contract within us within 14 days by law. If we have already started to carry  out works in those timeframes, then we will submit our invoice relating to  those works carried out for your payment.

·         We will hold your personal data safely in line with our data privacy  policy.

·         We want to reassure you that we will not only provide dignified care  to the person who has died at all times but we will keep an audit trail that  will demonstrate from the moment when they are entrusted into our care to  where they are in every stage of the journey including cremated ashes (where  applicable).

What do I need to do next?

1.       Please read the following terms and conditions in full.

2.      Contact Amanda-Louise if there is anything you are unsure about.

3.      Sign the document on the final page to confirm that you accept the full terms and conditions. However, notwithstanding your signature, the contract will come into force when we accept your instructions to us to provide you with our services.

Terms of Businessfor Amanda-Louise Funeral Services

These are the termsand conditions on which Amanda-Louise Lady Funeral Director Services (we, us orour) supply goods and or services to you. We are independent funeral directors,undertakers, and we provide a range of professional funeral services andrelated goods.

The overall businessis owned by Amanda-Louise Knight BA (Hons) as a sole trader with HMRC. You cancontact us at our funeral home at 3 Blenheim Road, Minehead, Somerset, TA24 5PY,telephone 01643 800335 or 07879220046 or email office@amandalouisefuneralservices.co.uk.

We have no business or financial interest in a price comparison website which compares Funeral Director Services and/or Crematoria Services and their respective prices.

We aim to act in a professional manner and provide a courteous, sensitive, and dignified service to you. Our business has policies which we stand by, copies can be found on our website, or we can email them to you.

These terms tell you who we are, how we will provide goods and/or services to you, how you and we may change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms, please contact us to discuss. The t&cs below form a legally binding contract between the funeral director business and the client, once the funeral director has received notification to commence their services.

1.Terminology

1.1In these Terms and Conditions andin our working practices, unless the context otherwise requires, the followingexpressions have the following meanings:

·       “Business Day” means any day otherthan a Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday.

·       “working or office hours” meansMonday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

·       “Us” “we” means Amanda-Louise FuneralServices, and includes the business owner and any staff.

·       “Client(s)” is the person(s) who bookour services. This typically is the person who registers the death of theperson who has died. This person will be responsible to settle our invoice offuneral costs This definition also includes former clients.

·       “Prospective client(s)” means anymember of public.

·       “Contract” means the contract for theprovision of the Services between us and the client, and no other persons haveany rights to enforce any terms or instruct us.

·       “Disbursement” means any payment on behalf of a client to a third party supplier or venue, for which reimbursement (without markup) is subsequently charged by us to the client.

·       “Services” means the services which are to be provided by us to you.

·       “writing or written’ includes information provided in a letter, or in printed form or via email

·       Relationship of the parties – nothing in these terms and conditions shall be deemed to create a partnership or joint venture between the parties.

·       “First Offices” is the process of making a person who has died look presentable. This can range from cleaning and washing the body, dressing the person who has died and closing the eyes. Closing of the mouth may also be carried out, where appropriate.

·       “Invasive procedure” relates to any care procedure that involves the breaking of skin or the opening of bodily cavities, including embalming. Embalming is not carried out routinely and written consent is required of us if the client wishes this to be undertaken.

·       “Introducer” relates to us and our relationship with Open Prepaid Plans. We do not receive any commission as an introducer.

·       “Regulator(s)” The National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) is the authorised body we have applied to be a member of. We are a member of The Association of Green Funeral Directors.

·       “Hire" or" with our compliments" any items that we hire ultimately belongs to us, and where we provide a product or a service with our compliments cannot be exchanged for any other product or services or a deduction in price.

1.2This legal contract between you and Amanda-Louise Funeral Services, incorporating these Terms and Conditions, will come into force when Amanda-Louise Funeral Services, having received your instructions either verbally or in writing, confirms acceptance of those instructions orally or by email to you or confirms to you in writing that it is arranging a funeral on your behalf.

2.Amanda-LouiseFuneral Services’ Obligations

2.1Our aim is to provide a quality service; our working practices and behaviours are underpinned by our policies and procedures.

2.2When you instruct us, we will provide you with an indication of the costs of our services. Following the initial meeting between you (the client) and us (Amanda-Louise Funeral Services) whether in person or online, Amanda-Louise Funeral Services will provide an estimate of the costs, including expenses as soon as possible, and in any event, at least three days prior to the funeral of all fees.

2.3Everyone at Amanda-Louise Funeral Services will work to their best ability to ensure that your wishes as well as the person who has died are carried out. If however, following a family meeting for example, that certain requests cannot be met because of family circumstances or matters outside of Amanda-Louise Funeral Services’ control, we will assist in making alternative arrangements, but we will not accept any liability for additional costs or losses that may arise as a result.

2.4We will guide you through the process of arranging a funeral, and provide you with information as to choices so that you are empowered to make the right decision.

2.5Should we become aware of any information concerning Safeguarding, then we must comply with such legislation and report to authorities those concerns.

3.Your Obligations

3.1Prior to you briefing us, we ask that you ensure you have the right to arrange the funeral of the person who has died. In law, this may be the executor of the Will, the person who has registered the death or next of kin.  Naturally here at Amanda-Louise Funeral Services we do not independently check who has the legal right to arrange a funeral, but ask that you confirm your relationship to the deceased.

3.2We ask that youas far as reasonably possible, are in agreement with any relative(s) orinterested parties about the type of funeral that is required before youinstruct us. We cannot be liable for any costs that may arise due to anydisagreements or change of plan.

3.3Any changes toour agreed funeral plans must be provided to us in writing either in letter orby email.

3.4During our initial meeting, we ask that as far as reasonably possible, you provide us with as much information during our initial meeting.

3.5You are responsible for either yourself personally to register the death of the person who has died, or to instruct someone else to do this on your behalf, and that you provide us with all the information we will need to apply for a burial or cremation on your behalf.

3.6You are responsible for paying the fees.

3.7You will inform us if you are applying for funds to help with the cost of the funeral ie from the Dept of Work and Pensions (DWP). We will support you in your application if you require our help.

4.Changes to Funeral Services Including Dates and Times

4.1All dates and times provided on the estimate cannot be guaranteed until final bookings are made, paid for, and confirmed. Although we endeavour to provide a swift and efficient service for you, there may be cases, because of circumstances beyond our control, we are unable to fulfil our obligations to you on the date or time specified. If this is the case, we will attempt to contact you in advance and advise you of alternative arrangements.

5.Estimate and Expenses

5.1As mentioned above, Amanda-Louise Funeral Services will provide an estimate of fees and charges. This estimate is an indication of the charges likely to be incurred on the basis of the information and details we know at the date of the estimate.

5.2By you continuing with our services, you will have deemed to have accepted such fees and will be liable to pay them in accordance with these terms.

5.3Our estimate will show a breakdown of costs. For example our charges and third party costs, for example, crematorium or burial fees, florist, minister/celebrant, GP fees, alternative vehicles.

5.4Whilst we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the estimate, the charges may alter particularly where third parties change their rates or charges, or if we do not know their full costs at time of estimate, however we give you a best estimate of such charges. The actual amount of the charges will be detailed and shown in the final account.

5.5If you amend your instructions, Amanda-Louise Funeral Services require your written confirmation of the changes.

6.Prices

6.1Some items of our service (for example hospitality, flowers etc are or may be subject to VAT. This will be charged to you at the prevailing rate at the time of the invoice.

6.2Our prices quoted in our estimate are confidential to you. Therefore, and except as otherwise provided by law, the client hereby agrees to keep the pricing arrangement confidential for a period of no less than 3 years from the date of this agreement.

7.PaymentArrangements

7.1All costs for unattended funerals must be paid on booking Amanda-Louise Funeral Services.

7.2For attended funerals, the crematoria or cemetery fee is to be paid on booking, then the balance must be paid to Amanda-Louise Funeral Services at least three clear working days before the date of the funeral. Amanda-Louise Funeral Services’ reserves the right to postpone the funeral if fees are not received when due, and this may jeopardise the total fees chargeable.

7.3We will submit an invoice to you on booking relating to the crematorium or burial fees, and a second invoice showing the balance due prior to the funeral as indicated above. Any other costs outstanding, or unforeseen until the day of the funeral, then we will raise a third invoice for those costs for which you will be liable to pay.

7.4Where instructed to do so, Amanda-Louise Funeral Services will forward its final invoice to another person provided full contact details and information is provided. Notwithstanding such instructions, you are however personally liable for making payment in full of all Fees and disbursements and simply forwarding the final invoice to another person will not discharge that liability.

7.5If you are applying for discretionary funding from the Department of Work and Pensions Social Fund or any other funding body, you are responsible for any shortfall between the amount awarded and the full estimate. You are reminded that the DWP and other funding bodies may not cover any costs. In this instance, you ares till responsible for ensuring that full payment is made within the payment terms detailed below. For payments from the DWP or any other funding body, we reserve the right to charge an admin fee of £250.

7.6 Our nominal admin charge of £250 also applies if 1) the payment is being paid from solicitors from an estate, or funeral payment plan or life insurance plan or 2)the funeral arrangements are complex.

7.7Where a double funeral is arranged (for the same day) only 50% of our professional fee will be charged for the second person.

7.8Methodsof Payment:-

       i.         BankTransfer – We welcome payments made directly to our bank account by bank transfer. Our bank payment details are included on our funeral invoices.

       ii.         Cheque– We accept payments by cheque. These may be made at our offices or sentdirectly to Amanda-Louise Knight via Amanda-Louise Funeral Services, 3 BlenheimRoad, Minehead, TA24 5PY. Cheques should be made payable to Amanda-LouiseFuneral Services. Cheques must be cleared in time to meet payment terms.

      iii.         Cash– If you wish to pay for your funeral account by cash, it may be possible for you to pay cash directly into our bank account. We can provide bank details for you to ask your bank to do this. Where this procedure is not available we can accept cash payments at our offices, although we may require further details of the payee to satisfy Money Laundering Regulations.

      iv.         Debitor Credit Card Payment – we hope to be in a position to offer this option. Therewill be an additional charge for payment via this method.  Ask us for further details.

      v.         We kindly ask you to notify us at the point of arrangements of your intended method of payment. If further assistance or guidance is required, we are happy to assist where possible. We reserve the right to refuse instruction or cancel arrangements if we feel that payment for our services will not be made. We can provide direction to local authority support payment where available.

8.Late Payment

8.1If we do not receive payment within our timeframes, then interest will be charged at 4%above the base lending rate of Nat West Bank from the due date for payment up to and including the date of the actual payment, plus any costs involved in us taking legal action to make you pay, including a third-party company to collect the balance on our behalf who may also add their fees, charges and interest.

9.SupplementaryCharges

9.1 If instructed to conduct the collection of a deceased into our care prior to funeral arrangements being made, a charge is applied. The charge from a local address(15 miles from our funeral home, including care homes and hospices, excluding hospitals) during normal working hours is included within our professional services charge.

9.2If the collection takes place outside these times an additional out-of-hours charge is added.

9.3If we are instructed to collect a deceased for another funeral director and care for them until a time when they collect the deceased from us, the applicable collectioncharge and continual care charges will be applied.

9.4If we areinstructed to collect a deceased, and the client subsequently chooses to use adifferent funeral director, the cost of the collection and continual carecharges will be calculated and presented to the other funeral director.

9.5It is our usualpractice to request payment of these charges from the other funeral directorprior to the transfer from our care for the benefit of administrationprocesses, allowing us to close the account once the deceased has left ourcare.

10Indemnity

10.1You are toindemnify us in full and hold us harmless from all expenses and liabilities wemay incur (directly or indirectly including financing costs and including legalcosts on a full indemnity basis) following any breach by you of any of yourobligations under these terms.

10.2This means that you are liable to us for losses we incur because you do not comply with these terms, for example we will charge you an administration fee where we receive a cheque from you which is subsequently not honoured or if we write to remind you that an account is overdue. If we instruct debt collection agents, we may also recover the fees we incur from you. Further details regarding these fees are available on request. We may claim those losses from you at any time and if we have to take legal action, we will ask the court to make you pay our legal costs.

11.Your Rightto Cancel Contract

11.1You have the right to cancel the contract if you wish in accordance with The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 which may give you the right to terminate this agreement in the cooling off period of 14 calendar days which commences with day one being the date the client signs and acknowledges receipt of this agreement. In order to deliver the funeral services in a timely manner, Amanda-Louise Funeral Services needs to be able to start work on your behalf immediately after you instruct us. By signing these terms and conditions, you acknowledge that you are waiving the right to cancel the contract at no penalty to yourself. In the event that you wish to waive you right to cancel under the Consumer Regulations and then choose to cancel, you will be liable to pay our costs incurred as shown below and 100% of any third party charges incurred.

·       Termination within 2 days of due date for performing services – 100% of our fees payable

·       Termination within 1 week of due date for performing services – 80% of our fees payable

·       Termination within 2 weeks of due date for performing services – 50% of our fees payable

·       Termination up to 2 weeks of due date for performing services – 30% of our fees payable

12.Termination– Our Rights to Cancel

12.1We reserve the right to terminate our services if you fail to honour your obligations under these terms. We are under no obligation to accept your termination until we receive your instructions in writing. If you terminate your instructions, or if we decide to terminate our services, you will be involved for all third-party charges which we have paid or committed to. You will also have to pay our charges and expenses according to the scale set out above.

13.Confidentiality

13.1The client(s) and Amanda-Louise Funeral Services agree that each of us will keep confidential and will not (whether directly or indirectly disclose, use, copy or modify any confidential information belonging to the other. In this clause, ‘confidential information’ means all information of a confidential nature that one of us has or acquires(whether directly or indirectly) including the other party’s personal information, financial information or information relating to their businesses or families and any information agreed to be or marked as confidential, any other information a party knows, or could be reasonably expected to know, is confidential and any other such information related to or concerning a party’s business or family.

13.2The only exception is for information which Amanda-Louise Funeral Services may be entitled or be bound to disclose legally or where requested by regulatory agencies or to our professional advisers where reasonably necessary for the performance of their professional services.

14.Data Protection& Personal Data

14.1Your Personal Data is held in accordance with our data privacy policy which can be accessed on our website.

Amanda-Louise Knight(owner of Amanda-Louise Funeral Services) is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and is committed to complying with Data Protection Legislation and ensuring your Personal Data is protected. “Data Protection Legislation” means all applicable data protection and privacy legislation in force from time to time in the UK including the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679); the Data Protection Act 2018. Defined terms used below shall have the meanings set out in the Data Protection Legislation.

14.2Amanda-LouiseFuneral Services will process any personal data which it collects for the purpose of complying with its obligations under this contract. Such personal data may include sensitive information that reveals a person's racial or ethic origin, religious / philosophical beliefs, health info or sexual orientation. We confirm that we have put in place appropriate technical and organisational measures to secure all personal data, including such “special category” data and will only collect such personal data as is necessary for provision of our services and will ensure it is not excessive.

14.3We will only keep personal data in identifiable form in relation to the funeral. Any financial data will be deleted immediately. We will notify you without undue delay on becoming aware of a Personal Data breach; and at your written direction, we will delete or return Personal Data and copies thereof to you once the funeral has taken place unless required by Applicable Law to store the personal data.

14.4We keep funeral data for minimum of five years.

14.5In order to deliver the Services, we will, when relevant, share your relevant personal data with third party suppliers such as florists, celebrants, churches, cemeteries. If you do not wish us to transfer such personal data to third parties, please do let us know but this may have a negative impact on how we can provide services to you.

14.6We will not share your personal data with or sell your data to other companies for promotional purposes.

14.7In accordance with Data Protection Legislation, you have the right to access, rectify, or erase the personal data we hold about you or the person who has died. You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioners Officer if you consider that we have not processed your personal data in accordance with Data Protection Legislation.

14.8“Unsolicited Approaches” we do not contact a client or potential client that involves unlawful data processing or for which the individual has not provided prior consent. For the avoidance of doubt, advertising and leaflet dropping are not covered by this definition.

15.Intellectualownership/copyright

15.1From time to time, we may use a photograph of acoffin or aspect of an event for our marketing purposes. The client agrees forus to do so, unless the client writes to us withdrawing their consent.

15.2We will automatically provide information onour website of the death/funeral announcement, and at times post on socialmedia in relation to the funeral. The client agrees for us to do so, unless theclient writes to us withdrawing their consent.

15.3Should we write a celebrant funeralservice/ceremony, then that script will remain the ownership of us untilpayment has been received in full. Notwithstanding this, after payment, thecontent is under the ownership of us, and copyright – none of the content canbe used by anyone else.

16.Third PartySuppliers & Liabilities

16.1Amanda-Louise Funeral Services are only responsible for the parts of the funeral arrangements that it performs itself. As part of its Services, Amanda-Louise Funeral Services shall in accordance with your instructions make all other necessary arrangements with third parties on your behalf (such as with ministers, celebrants ,florists, external printing companies, newspapers, cemeteries, crematoria, organists, gravediggers etc). In doing so, it is acting as your agent and any costs incurred for such third-party services shall be added to your invoice.

16.2Accordingly, thethird parties involved in providing their services (and not therefore Amanda-LouiseFuneral Services) are responsible to you for the provision of their services. Amanda-LouiseFuneral Services acts as an agent on your behalf to bring all of those servicestogether but cannot be held responsible for the quality or level of serviceprovided.

16.3Other failures or delay in performing our obligations where that failure or delay results from any cause that is beyond our reasonable contract, such as but are not limited to, failure of any sub-contractor, power failure, internet service provider failure, industrial action, civil unrest, fire, explosion, flood, storms, earthquakes, subsidence, acts of terrorism, acts of war, government action, epidemic or other natural disaster, or any other event that is beyond our control.

16.4In any situation to be deemed an emergency, particularly on the day of the funeral, we may undertake whatever action that we feel is appropriate without the need to consult the client beforehand.

16.5Some places of worship including cemetery and crematorium chapels are restricted by fire regulations regarding the number of people who may enter the building. Amanda-Louise Funeral Services does not accept any liability if some mourners are declined entry to the building for the funeral service.

16.6If the information you provide to us is delayed, incomplete or otherwise incorrect, we will not be responsible for any delay caused as a result. If additional work is required from us to correct or compensate for a mistake made as a result of incomplete or otherwise incorrect information that you have provided, we may charge you a reasonable additional sum for that work.

16.7We will be responsible for any foreseeable loss or damage that you may suffer as a result of our breach of these terms and conditions or as a result of our negligence. Loss or damage is foreseeable if it is an obvious consequence of our breach or negligence or if it is contemplated by you and us when the agreement is created, Nothing in these terms and conditions seeks to exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence (including that of our employees, agents or sub-contracts) or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation. Furthermore, nothing in these terms and conditions shall affect your statutory rights as a consumer.

17.Limitationof liability

17.1In providing the services, Amanda-Louise Funeral Services are committed to maintaining a high level of service and efficiency. However, the services are dependent upon the accuracy of information provided by you which is beyond the control of Amanda-Louise Funeral Services, therefore we do not accept responsibility and shall not be liable for any loss that you may incur directly or indirectly, because of using our services.

17.2Amanda-LouiseFuneral Services shall not be liable to you for any loss or expense which is indirect or consequential loss, and / or loss or damage suffered by you because of anaction brought by third party.

17.3Notwithstandingany other provision contained in the contract, Amanda-Louise Funeral Services does not, in the contract, exclude or restrict liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or to the extent itis otherwise prohibited by law from excluding or restricting liability.

18.Our Complaints Procedure &Conduct

18.1We hope that you have a positive experience of the delivery of the service you need and want. If you are nothappy with the service you receive, we would ask in the first instance that you talk with the member of staff you have been working with. If the matter isstill not resolved, you can read our complaints policy on our website which shows the procedures in place to ensure your concerns are heard and addressed.

18.2Our code of practice requires that we provide a quality service in all aspects. If you are not content with our delivery in any aspect, you agree not to post on any media platforms any negative comments about our services for a period of three years.

18.3The client(s) is/are responsible for theconduct of funeral attendees and all other service providers.  Verbal or physical abusive language orbehaviour towards Amanda-Louise Funeral Services will not be tolerated in anyway and will lead to an immediate termination of their services.  In these circumstances, there will be norefunds whatsoever paid by the funeral director services.

18.4Nothing in this contract impingeson your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and otherlegislation; those rights main unaffected.

19.Ranking

19.1It is acknowledged and agreed that the client(s) can elect to purchase 1) different tiers of Services – this will give different levels of support generating different volume of hours supported and 2) different types of Services –listings are featured and accessible to client(s) on the website.

19.2During busy times, our admin time and accessibility can reduce. It is common working practice to work on a priority need basis deemed appropriate by the service provider. This does not mean all our clients are not important or they arevalued less.

20.Health & Safety

20.1In carry out our duties we will be responsiblefor our health and safety when we are in your own home or in other placescarrying out any of our services. When we are in your own home, the client willprotect our staffing of potential health and safety risks.

20.2 We comply with legislation within our funeralhome with health and safety regulations and recording.

20.2Based on our 4 professional bearers - will aim to carry max of 16 stone. Final decision as to whether to carry or use wheeled bier is only at the discretion of the Funeral Director.

20.3Family Bearers - Bearing by family members or anyone other than the staff at Amanda-Louise Funeral Services will only be permitted at the direction of the Funeral Director. We will not beheld responsible for any mishap, loss, injury or damage should anyone other than our staff wish to pall bear or carry out any other function usually carried out by the Funeral Director staff.

21.Covid-19

21.1We respectfully ask if you have closecontact with someone who has tested positive for covid-19 or you’re experiencingsymptoms of covid-19 you should take a PCR test (at your cost) which gives anegative result before visiting our funeral home or asking us to visit you athome. Thank you for your understanding.

21.2In a lock down pandemic climate – As amodern funeral directors we can allow for zoom streaming of funerals andreceptions, allowing those restricted in attendance to still play a meaningfulrole in the ceremony.  We can alter routes to allow neighboursand friends to pay their respects as the cortege drives past, and can makearrangements to safely allow people to come in and decorate the coffin if theywish. We will always follow the guidelines set by the legislation.

22.Clothingand Personal Effects

22.1We will record all clothes and personal effects that are with the person who has died when webring them into our care and will ask you to sign to confirm that we have them if you are with the person when we collect them. We will follow your instructions as to what to do with these items. Any items left with us for more than a month after the funeral will be recycled, donated to charity, or disposed of. When jewellery and/or other valuables are placed in the coffin or left on/with the person who has died during visits, Amanda-Louise Funeral Services are not responsible for their safekeeping and does not accept any liability in the event of loss or damage.

23.How We Keep the Person Who Has Died Safe

23.1When you give us permission to collect the person who has died, (and after medical verification of death) when we arrive we check identification to ensure that the person whom we are collecting is whom we are expecting to collect. We will check paperwork, or identification on the person or ask a family member for example.

23.2We will raise a case file relating to the person who has died in paperwork format and on our IT management software which is password protected. This case file will contain all information relating to the person, and how we look after them in our care, their whereabouts, for example during the entire time they are in our care.

23.3We will inform you the location of where we look after the person who has died, and if we are requested to convey the person who has died to another location for example to another mortuary or to venue before funeral, we will notify you (and record the whereabouts on the case file).

23.4In our mortuary facilities, we will place an identificationband on the person (if they do not have one already) on their wrist and ontheir ankle (wherever possible), and we record the exact position in ourmortuary of the person, and if anyone other than staff enter the mortuary (authorisedaccess), we would ensure that all sensitive information is protected.

23.5If we are given items of clothes to change the person’sclothing, then the clothing will either be placed in a bag labelled with theperson (in readiness) or on a rack in the mortuary. If any jewellery is not toremain on the person and is to be returned to you, then such jewellery willremain on the person or put into our locked area for safe keeping until suchtime as we hand over the jewellery. Again all information is recorded by us,and we will ask for you to sign our form to evidence you have taken ownershipof such jewellery from us.

23.6We will prepare a name plaque which will be fixed onto the lidof the coffin, and we check the details are accurate from our records. This isimportant as the nameplate will be checked by the Crematoria staff to ensurethe coffin matches with the application.

23.7We will prepare paperwork on your behalf to apply for acremation or burial and check the information is accurate.

On the day of the funeral, our staff will check that the coffin relates to the funeral we are going to undertake that day, and ensure that coffin is placed in our hearse or appropriate vehicle.

23.8When we reach the crematoria or church/cemetery we will liaisewith the personnel the other end so both parties are confident that we areperforming funeral of the person shown on the application.

23.9Once we place the coffin onto the catafalque, this indicateswe are handing over responsibility to the crematoria or church/cemetery.

23.10If you have chosen to be cremated, and wish us to collect the cremated ashes on your behalf, then at the crematoria we check the paperwork and the box of ashes so that they correspond, signing paperwork to confirm that we now have responsibility for those ashes. We store the ashes in our locked steelcabinet within our locked facilities for safe keeping, and the information isrecorded on our IT management software and paperwork.  When we hand over the ashes to the client, we will ask the clientto sign our paperwork to evidence the same, and we update our software to complete our audit trail.

24.General

24.1If any term or provision of this contract is at any time held to be void, invalid or unenforceable, then it shall be treated as changed or reduced, only to the extent necessary to bring it within the laws of that jurisdiction and toprevent it from being void and it shall be binding in that changed or reduced form. Subject to that, each provision shall be interpreted as severable and shall not in any way affect any other of these terms.

24.2This Contract and any document expressly referred to in it (including your instructions) constitute the whole agreement between you and Amanda-Louise Funeral Services, to the exclusion of any terms implied by law which may be excluded by contract, and supersede all previous discussions, correspondence, negotiations, previous arrangement, understanding or agreement, oral or written, relating to the subject matter of any Contract. Each party acknowledges that, in entering into the contract, it has not relied upon, and will not have any remedies in respect of, any representation or warranty (whether made innocently or negligently)that is not set out in this contract or the documents referred to in it.

24.3No failure or delay by any party to exercise any right, power or remedy will operate as a waiver of it nor indicate any intention to reduce that or any other right in the future.

24.4Neither party shall be liable for any failure or delay in performance of this contract whichis caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control.

24.5Anycommunication to be served on either party by the other shall be delivered byhand or sent by first class post or recorded delivery or by e-mail.

24.6This Contract does not give any right to any third party under the contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 or otherwise, except that any provision in this contract which excludes or restricts the liability of any person, may be enforced under that Act. This also means You may not transfer (assign) your obligations and rights under these terms and conditions and under the contract without our express written permission. Our contract is between you and us. It is not intended to benefit any other person or third party in any way and no such person or party will be entitled to enforce any provision of these terms and conditions.

24.7We may transfer (assign) our obligations and rights under these terms and conditions (and under the Contract, as applicable) to a third party (for example, if we sell our business or due topoor health). Your rights under these terms and conditions will not be affected and our obligations under these terms and conditions will be transferred to the third party who will remain bound by them.

24.8The validity, construction and performance of this contract shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales and each party hereby irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

30.OtherPolicies & Produces

30.1As a reputableprofessional business, we are driven by quality policies, procedures wrappedaround our positive values and ethos. These can be found online at:

https://www.amandalouisefuneralservices.co.uk/policies/equalities-statement

https://www.amandalouisefuneralservices.co.uk/policies/accessibility-policy

https://www.amandalouisefuneralservices.co.uk/policies/donations-policy

https://www.amandalouisefuneralservices.co.uk/policies/code-of-ethics

https://www.amandalouisefuneralservices.co.uk/policies/privacy-policy

https://www.amandalouisefuneralservices.co.uk/pages/our-values

https://www.amandalouisefuneralservices.co.uk/policies/declaration-of-interests

31.Consent

I confirm that Ihave read and understood the terms and conditions, and are happy to instructAmanda-Louise Funeral Directors to act on my behalf for the purposes of funera lservices.

Signed by (client)               …………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Print Name                         …………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Date                                     …………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Signed by                            …………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(Amanda-Louise Funeral Services)

Print Name                         …………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Date                                     …………………………………………………………………………………………………………

This policy will be monitored and reviewed annually.

‍

‍Policy Updated - June 2024

Next Policy Review - June 2025

Policy Owner - Amanda-Louise Knight

Policy Reviewer - Amanda-Louise Knight‍