Is this how undertakers behave these days?

[Londonmummy66]

Is this normal for an undertaker? My father had a funeral plan and pretty much everything was covered (or so I thought). SO I was somewhat surprised to get a chasing letter from Co op Funeral Services for non payment of fees. On investigation the local office told me that there were £140 of additional items my father had requested that weren't included in the plan and a fee of £50 for the crematorium switching on the electric organ so my husband could provide a bit of "till ready" background music as the minister was late due to bad traffic. I wasn't sent an invoice for any of this (still not had one....)

I explained that my father's estate has no liquid assets so I can't get cash from that until probate and that the joint bank account passed to my mother who has no capacity. I have an EPA for her following my father's death but that is still with the Public Guardian's Office for activation - taken them 3 months and counting. The banking arm of the Coop won't let me access funds for this without the activation code despite having a copy of the EPA - and I probably shouldn't pay the funeral expenses from my mother's account anyway as they are correctly estate expenses.

Co op funeral care said that none of this is their problem (including not having actually sent me an invoice) and that they are going to send debt collectors after me - is this how funeral directors usually act nowadays? My father took out an insurance plan with the Coop to avoid this sort of issue.

Have you a copy of the insurance plan?

Ask for a copy of the invoice and the funeral plan. If they are correct and these are additional charges you will probably need to pay it yourself.

I’m sorry for your loss and for having to go through this extra stress! I lost my dad recently too and the funeral directors were wonderful, nothing was too much trouble so I don’t think they’re all like that (small independent family firm)

Can’t they just reprint the invoice? Have you tried complaining to the head office? A bit of bad publicity goes a long way with things like this - no one has any capacity for poor service when they’re grieving.

Every one else has to wait until probate before invoices and expenses etc are paid - why are the undertakers any different? I know normally banks will release funds to pay their fees but in this case the bank (which is the same company as the undertaker as both are Coop) is saying no. I have said that they will be paid once we have probate but they say this isn't good enough and that they will send the debt collectors for the invoice. THey also refuse to speak to their banking colleagues...

Probate can take years.

@Nincompoo - I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. When I've organised funerals before its been local undertakers (and that is what I would have chosen if Dad hadn't got a funeral plan - his was originally with a local firm but it got taken over by Co op sadly). I've never had this problem with them.

@DDivaStar I'm already thousands down paying for essential things for my mother until the Public Guardian gets round to giving me an activation code for the EPA so I just don't have spare funds to settle this at the moment. If I had the EPA I could reimburse myself for mums care home fees and then I'd be able to pay the undertaker but as it stands the delay is breaking me financially.

It won't in this case.

Am I reading this right? It was £190 he was asking for?

Every one else has to wait until probate before invoices and expenses etc are paid - why are the undertakers any different?

Because (assuming there is enough money in at least one of the deceased accounts) banks and building societies are allowed to make out cheques directly from the deceased's accounts to the funeral director - it's the one payment they are permitted to make straight way even if probate is needed to release the rest ofthe funds.

I’d just pay the bill myself tbh. Is it just you or are there any siblings who could split it between you all?

Funeral Arranger here.
Banks will always pay a funeral invoice before probate is granted.
Re: items not covered by the prepaid plan - unless the deceased paid enough to contribute to the third party charges, and there is a shortfall, then these generally have to be paid in full before funeral takes place.

Only if it’s avery complicated estate! It’s between 4 and 8 weeks at the moment for simple ones

They weren't asked for upfront nor were we told there was a £50 fee to turn on an organ.... The bank is refusing to pay the funeral expenses (it was a joint account) as my mother doesn't have capacity and I don't have an activation code yet for the EPA.

Sorry to be crude, but this is your late father’s debt to settle. Not yours. So they can send whoever they like, and you can share copies with the bank, but if the funds can’t be released for some reason to pay this, then they’ll need to join the queue.

I am paying my mothers care home fees at the moment and am financially broken with that until the EPA activation code comes through - I just don't have the funds for anything else.

You need to challenge the bank they will pay funeral expenses before probate and normally do it direct to the funeral home.

as to extras for the funeral my mother had a prepaid plan we had to pay a bit extra for the flowers as they were not included in the plan. As it happens her bank have sent me the money from her account already no probate needed

in your case it comes from your mums account as part of his money is to cover this bill

if you are not sure you should be paying it you need to check the invoice to the plan. In our case the funeral director went through everything said what was covered and what wasn’t and what the final bill would be when we met to discuss the funeral

You need to challenge. Make a complaint if necessary. If the account was joint fees for funerals should still be paid from that account,even if now a sole account, on presentation of a bill

The bank won't release funds due to my mother's incapacity.

I'm a funeral celebrant and do a lot of work with the co-op. They are honestly my least favourite funeral directors to deal with.
The people in branch are mostly lovely but I find it very corporate, they are constantly pushed to make targets. I'm often chasing their accounts months after conducting a service.
As others have said, request a copy of the invoice with full breakdown and a copy of what was included in the policy. They should not threating bereaved families.
I would always recommend going with an independent funeral director.
Sorry for the loss of your father, I hope you get this cleared up soon.

@Digsysdiner1 - I'm sorry you have problems too. I was shocked that they seemed to think that sending debt collection after an executor six weeks after the funeral and before they'd issued the invoice was an appropriate way to behave

£190 is actually a lot of money to some of us 🙄

Can you see citizens advice and get some help from there? I would certainly go on the attack - formal complaint to their head office. No one has any business expecting you to pay a bill for which you've not been invoiced and when charges were not declared upfront.
Iirc, the person who arranges the funeral or instructs the undertaker, is usually the person held responsible for settling the bill, but if your dad had a prepaid plan, then no one really instructed CoOp other than your father. So imo they should he chasing his estate or his bank. It's not your responsibility to settle this bill - certainly not without seeing a breakdown of costs. Obviously you need to check that legally but I don't believe you can be pursued for someone else's debt.

When mil died, she had debts all over the place. You wouldn't believe how shitty companies can be when they want paying, but there was no money and I was advised not to settle even one bill because that is deemed to be accepting responsibility. Loads of companies will outright lie to you though, to make it seem like it's your job to fix.
An executor doesn't own the deceased's money and can only pay from the account once probate has occurred. They know this, regardless of what they are saying.

Id name and shame on their social media too.

Does this help OP ?

https://www.coop.co.uk/funeralcare/contact-us

Sorry for your loss It's the most difficult time yet they expect you to deal with some of rhe most ridiculous requests whilst aslo dealing with your loss.

My mum banked with Virgin Money, jI ust had to send the funeral invoice to them and it was settled same say before Probate was even applied for the funeral-directors were greatful for the speedy payment

Nothing surprises me with the Co-op they are hideous to deal with but than banking arm has been sold off.

Op I would email the MD for both arms of the business and ask them to resolve it between themselves, if you have no response in 48 house write a Trust Pilot review for both again. (There is actually a similar one to this in the funeral account already)