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 todeliver the funeral that is right for you and for the person whom has died in asmooth and dignified way. This document details our terms and conditions, whichwe are required to issue with regards the terms on which we are providing our services to you.

Our ethos is beingtransparent, to speak in plain language, be honest and provide clear andconcise information.  The ExecutiveSummary 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 todo next?

1.       Please read the following termsand conditions in full.

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

3.      Sign the document on the finalpage to confirm that you accept the full terms and conditions. However,notwithstanding your signature, the contract will come into force when weaccept 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 comparisonwebsite which compares Funeral Director Services and/or Crematoria Services andtheir respective prices.

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

These terms tell youwho we are, how we will provide goods and/or services to you, how you and wemay change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem and otherimportant information. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms,please contact us to discuss. The t&cs below form a legally bindingcontract between the funeral director business and the client, once the funeraldirector 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 onbehalf 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 whichare to be provided by us to you.

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

·       Relationship of the parties – nothingin these terms and conditions shall be deemed to create a partnership or jointventure between the parties.

·       “First Offices” is the process ofmaking a person who has died look presentable. This can range from cleaning andwashing 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 anycare procedure that involves the breaking of skin or the opening of bodilycavities, including embalming. Embalming is not carried out routinely andwritten consent is required of us if the client wishes this to be undertaken.

·       “Introducer” relates to us and ourrelationship with Open Prepaid Plans. We do not receive any commission as anintroducer.

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

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

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

2.Amanda-LouiseFuneral Services’ Obligations

2.1Our aim is toprovide a quality service; our working practices and behaviours are underpinnedby our policies and procedures.

2.2When you instructus, we will provide you with an indication of the costs of our services.Following the initial meeting between you (the client) and us (Amanda-LouiseFuneral Services) whether in person or online, Amanda-Louise Funeral Serviceswill 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 atAmanda-Louise Funeral Services will work to their best ability to ensure thatyour 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 metbecause of family circumstances or matters outside of Amanda-Louise FuneralServices’ control, we will assist in making alternative arrangements, but wewill not accept any liability for additional costs or losses that may arise asa result.

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

2.5Should we becomeaware of any information concerning Safeguarding, then we must comply with suchlegislation and report to authorities those concerns.

3.YourObligations

3.1Prior to youbriefing us, we ask that you ensure you have the right to arrange the funeralof the person who has died. In law, this may be the executor of the Will, theperson who has registered the death or next of kin.  Naturally here at Amanda-Louise FuneralServices we do not independently check who has the legal right to arrange afuneral, 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 ourinitial meeting, we ask that as far as reasonably possible, you provide us withas much information during our initial meeting.

3.5You areresponsible for either yourself personally to register the death of the personwho has died, or to instruct someone else to do this on your behalf, and thatyou provide us with all the information we will need to apply for a burial orcremation on your behalf.

3.6You areresponsible for paying the fees.

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

4.Changes toFuneral Services Including Dates and Times

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

5.Estimate andExpenses

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

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

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

5.4Whilst we makeevery effort to ensure the accuracy of the estimate, the charges may alterparticularly where third parties change their rates or charges, or if we do notknow their full costs at time of estimate, however we give you a best estimateof such charges. The actual amount of the charges will be detailed and shown inthe final account.

5.5If you amend yourinstructions, Amanda-Louise Funeral Services require your written confirmationof the changes.

6.Prices

6.1Someitems of our service (for example hospitality, flowers etc are or may besubject to VAT. This will be charged to you at the prevailing rate at the timeof the invoice.

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

7.PaymentArrangements

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

7.2For attendedfunerals, the crematoria or cemetery fee is to be paid on booking, then thebalance must be paid to Amanda-Louise Funeral Services at least three clearworking 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 aninvoice to you on booking relating to the crematorium or burial fees, and asecond invoice showing the balance due prior to the funeral as indicated above.Any other costs outstanding, or unforeseen until the day of the funeral, thenwe will raise a third invoice for those costs for which you will be liable topay.

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

7.5If you areapplying for discretionary funding from the Department of Work and PensionsSocial Fund or any other funding body, you are responsible for any shortfallbetween the amount awarded and the full estimate. You are reminded that the DWPand other funding bodies may not cover any costs. In this instance, you arestill responsible for ensuring that full payment is made within the paymentterms detailed below. For payments from the DWP or any other funding body, wereserve the right to charge an admin fee of £250.

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

7.7Wherea double funeral is arranged (for the same day) only 50% of our professionalfee will be charged for the second person.

7.8Methodsof Payment:-

       i.         BankTransfer – We welcome payments made directly to our bank account by banktransfer. 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 foryou to pay cash directly into our bank account. We can provide bank details foryou to ask your bank to do this. Where this procedure is not available we canaccept cash payments at our offices, although we may require further details ofthe 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 ofarrangements of your intended method of payment. If further assistance orguidance is required, we are happy to assist where possible. We reserve theright to refuse instruction or cancel arrangements if we feel that payment forour services will not be made. We can provide direction to local authoritysupport payment where available.

8.Late Payment

8.1If we do notreceive 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 upto and including the date of the actual payment, plus any costs involved in ustaking legal action to make you pay, including a third-party company to collectthe balance on our behalf who may also add their fees, charges and interest.

9.SupplementaryCharges

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

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

9.3If we areinstructed to collect a deceased for another funeral director and care for themuntil 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 thatyou are liable to us for losses we incur because you do not comply with theseterms, for example we will charge you an administration fee where we receive acheque from you which is subsequently not honoured or if we write to remind youthat an account is overdue. If we instruct debt collection agents, we may alsorecover the fees we incur from you. Further details regarding these fees areavailable on request. We may claim those losses from you at any time and if wehave to take legal action, we will ask the court to make you pay our legalcosts.

11.Your Rightto Cancel Contract

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

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

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

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

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

12.Termination– Our Rights to Cancel

12.1We reserve theright to terminate our services if you fail to honour your obligations underthese terms. We are under no obligation to accept your termination until wereceive your instructions in writing. If you terminate your instructions, or ifwe decide to terminate our services, you will be involved for all third-partycharges which we have paid or committed to. You will also have to pay ourcharges 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 confidentialand will not (whether directly or indirectly disclose, use, copy or modify anyconfidential 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 personalinformation, financial information or information relating to their businessesor families and any information agreed to be or marked as confidential, anyother information a party knows, or could be reasonably expected to know, isconfidential and any other such information related to or concerning a party’sbusiness or family.

13.2The onlyexception is for information which Amanda-Louise Funeral Services may beentitled or be bound to disclose legally or where requested by regulatoryagencies or to our professional advisers where reasonably necessary for theperformance of their professional services.

14.Data Protection& Personal Data

14.1Your PersonalData is held in accordance with our data privacy policy which can be accessedon our website.

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

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

14.3We will onlykeep personal data in identifiable form in relation to the funeral. Anyfinancial data will be deleted immediately. We will notify you without unduedelay on becoming aware of a Personal Data breach; and at your writtendirection, we will delete or return Personal Data and copies thereof to youonce the funeral has taken place unless required by Applicable Law to store thepersonal data.

14.4We keep funeral datafor minimum of five years.

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

14.6We will notshare your personal data with or sell your data to other companies forpromotional purposes.

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

14.8“Unsolicited Approaches” we donot contact a client or potential client that involves unlawful data processingor for which the individual has not provided prior consent. For the avoidanceof 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-LouiseFuneral Services are only responsible for the parts of the funeral arrangementsthat it performs itself. As part of its Services, Amanda-Louise FuneralServices shall in accordance with your instructions make all other necessaryarrangements 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 anycosts 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 ourobligations where that failure or delay results from any cause that is beyondour reasonable contract, such as but are not limited to, failure of anysub-contractor, power failure, internet service provider failure, industrialaction, civil unrest, fire, explosion, flood, storms, earthquakes, subsidence,acts of terrorism, acts of war, government action, epidemic or other naturaldisaster, 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 thatwe feel is appropriate without the need to consult the client beforehand.

16.5Some places ofworship including cemetery and crematorium chapels are restricted by fireregulations regarding the number of people who may enter the building. Amanda-LouiseFuneral Services does not accept any liability if some mourners are declinedentry to the building for the funeral service.

16.6If the information you provide to us isdelayed, incomplete or otherwise incorrect, we will not be responsible for anydelay caused as a result. If additional work is required from us to correct orcompensate for a mistake made as a result of incomplete or otherwise incorrectinformation that you have provided, we may charge you a reasonable additionalsum for that work.

16.7We will be responsible for any foreseeable lossor damage that you may suffer as a result of our breach of these terms andconditions or as a result of our negligence. Loss or damage is foreseeable ifit is an obvious consequence of our breach or negligence or if it iscontemplated by you and us when the agreement is created, Nothing in theseterms and conditions seeks to exclude or limit our liability for death orpersonal 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 statutoryrights as a consumer.

17.Limitationof liability

17.1In providing theservices, Amanda-Louise Funeral Services are committed to maintaining a highlevel of service and efficiency. However, the services are dependent upon theaccuracy of information provided by you which is beyond the control of Amanda-LouiseFuneral Services, therefore we do not accept responsibility and shall not beliable for any loss that you may incur directly or indirectly, because of usingour services.

17.2Amanda-LouiseFuneral Services shall not be liable to you for any loss or expense which is indirector 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 doesnot, in the contract, exclude or restrict liability for death or personalinjury caused by our negligence, or the negligence of our employees, agents orsubcontractors; 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 positiveexperience 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 youtalk 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 whichshows the procedures in place to ensure your concerns are heard and addressed.

18.2Our code ofpractice requires that we provide a quality service in all aspects. If you arenot content with our delivery in any aspect, you agree not to post on any mediaplatforms 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 isacknowledged and agreed that the client(s) can elect to purchase 1) differenttiers of Services – this will give different levels of support generatingdifferent volume of hours supported and 2) different types of Services –listings are featured and accessible to client(s) on the website.

19.2During busytimes, our admin time and accessibility can reduce. It is common workingpractice to work on a priority need basis deemed appropriate by the serviceprovider. 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 aimto carry max of 16 stone. Final decision as to whether to carry or use wheeledbier is only at the discretion of the Funeral Director.

20.3Family Bearers - Bearing byfamily members or anyone other than the staff at Amanda-Louise Funeral Serviceswill only be permitted at the direction of the Funeral Director. We will not beheld responsible for any mishap, loss, injury or damage should anyone otherthan our staff wish to pall bear or carry out any other function usuallycarried 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 recordall 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 themif you are with the person when we collect them. We will follow yourinstructions as to what to do with these items. Any items left with us for morethan a month after the funeral will be recycled, donated to charity, ordisposed of. When jewellery and/or other valuables are placed in the coffin orleft on/with the person who has died during visits, Amanda-Louise FuneralServices are not responsible for their safekeeping and does not accept anyliability in the event of loss or damage.

23.How We Keepthe Person Who Has Died Safe

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

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

23.3We will inform you the location of where we look after theperson who has died, and if we are requested to convey the person who has diedto 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 coffinrelates to the funeral we are going to undertake that day, and ensure thatcoffin 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 thecremated ashes on your behalf, then at the crematoria we check the paperworkand the box of ashes so that they correspond, signing paperwork to confirm thatwe 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 tocomplete our audit trail.

24.General

24.1If any term orprovision of this contract is at any time held to be void, invalid orunenforceable, then it shall be treated as changed or reduced, only to theextent 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 reducedform. Subject to that, each provision shall be interpreted as severable andshall not in any way affect any other of these terms.

24.2This Contractand 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, previousarrangement, understanding or agreement, oral or written, relating to thesubject matter of any Contract. Each party acknowledges that, in entering intothe contract, it has not relied upon, and will not have any remedies in respectof, 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 ordelay by any party to exercise any right, power or remedy will operate as awaiver of it nor indicate any intention to reduce that or any other right inthe future.

24.4Neither partyshall 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 thirdparty under the contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 or otherwise,except that any provision in this contract which excludes or restricts theliability of any person, may be enforced under that Act. This also means You may not transfer (assign) your obligations and rightsunder these terms and conditions and under the contract without our expresswritten permission. Our contract is between you and us. It is not intended tobenefit any other person or third party in any way and no such person or partywill be entitled to enforce any provision of these terms and conditions.

24.7We may transfer (assign) our obligationsand rights under these terms and conditions (and under the Contract, asapplicable) 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 affectedand our obligations under these terms and conditions will be transferred to thethird party who will remain bound by them.

24.8The validity,construction and performance of this contract shall be governed by the laws ofEngland and Wales and each party hereby irrevocably submits to the exclusivejurisdiction 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 funeralservices.

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

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

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

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

(Amanda-LouiseFuneral Services)

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

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

This policy will be monitored and reviewedannually.

‍

‍Policy Updated - June 2024

Next Policy Review - June 2025

Policy Owner - Amanda-Louise Knight

Policy Reviewer - Amanda-Louise Knight‍