UK’s CMA Publishes Final Report In Funerals Market Probe

The CMA has published the final report on its in-depth market investigation into funeral services, confirming its remedies for the sector.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has confirmed its provisional conclusions, issued in August, which identified a number of issues in the funeral services sector and suggested a package of ‘sunlight remedies’ to address these.

The final report sets out further detail on the remedies, which are intended to support customers when choosing a funeral director or crematorium and to place the sector under greater public scrutiny.

They include:

• an obligation for all funeral directors and crematorium operators to disclose prices in a manner that will help customers make more informed decisions;
• that information must be provided in advance of a customer committing to purchase a service so that people know the price they will be charged and the key terms of business – for example if a deposit is required;
• that customers should be made aware of any relevant business, financial and commercial interests of the funeral director, and that certain practices – such as payments which may incentivise hospitals, care homes or hospices to refer customers to a particular funeral director – will be prohibited;
• a recommendation to the government to establish an independent inspection and registration regime to monitor the quality of funeral director services as a first step in the establishment of a broader regulatory regime for funeral services.

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