Having suffered a bereavement please let us give you some basic advice to follow:
If the person has died at home and the death was expected, then you need to call your normal family doctor or the medical practitioners that were looking after your loved one. They will attend and confirm that death has occurred. You should then contact us on our 24 hour telephone number and we will arrange to come to the home and bring your loved one into our care.
If the person died in a hospital then you will be advised by the Bereavement Services Department at that hospital. You can contact us before the ‘cause of death’ papers have been issued by bereavement services. This will allow us to begin funeral arrangements and lets us liaise with the hospital for you.
If the death was sudden and unexpected then you need to call an ambulance. The ambulance crew will attend to confirm that death has occurred, once they have done this they will ask you to nominate a funeral director. Give the crew our 24 hour telephone number. We will then arrange to bring your loved one either into our care or to the local hospital to await the ruling from the Coroner. (If death occurs with the person not having seen their normal family doctor within fourteen days or they are recovering from an operation, then the death will be referred to the Coroner)
Once we have been told about the death then we can assist you with making some preliminary funeral arrangements. Please call our office number so that we can help you decide where would be best for you to make these arrangements. Either in the comfort of your home or in one of our branches.
The Registrar
You will need to make an appointment at your local registry office – this will normally be in the district in which the death occurred. You should contact us for advice if you are unsure, we can give you the telephone numbers of the various registry offices in our area. There is a leaflet on this web site that you can download if you wish.
We will then invite you into one of our branches or come to your home, whichever is more convenient and talk you through the next steps in arranging the funeral, our friendly team are there to help and take all the pressure of you whilst you grieve.
Disbursements (The fees we pay on your behalf)
Some disbursements may have to be paid in advance of the funeral taking place including burial plot costs and cremation fees, also if specialist vehicles are requested i.e. horse-drawn carriage or a motorcycle hearse etc, other disbursements will generally be added to the funeral account.
Our caring staff will help you to decide and give you advice on what to do now.