Information & Questions
Whatever your question, we are just at the end of the phone. Ring our office and chat (9.00am to 5.00pm)
Every funeral is different. Every family is different. A family should make a funeral choice that fits their needs at the time of loss. Among the options to consider are: traditional service with viewing and burial, traditional service with cremation to follow, cremation with a memorial service, or any type of arrangement that is right for your family. Many people are now using our pre-planning and pre-funding services to ensure their wishes are carried out upon their death and to relieve family and friends from additional stress.
A funeral can be as unique as the person who died. Picture displays and video tributes are examples of the several ways to portray and celebrate the life of a loved one. You may wish to request a colour or clothing theme which reflects your loved one's personality. Personalising service sheets with photographs and choosing music from your loved one's collection will all help to make the funeral individual and appropriate.
You and your family do. A funeral can be as extravagant or as simple as you desire. The type of service and other items selected determines the cost of a funeral. An estimate of costs based on items and services selected is provided to the family and our general price list is provided for easy reference. A funeral does not have to be an extravagant display as there are caskets and urns available at all cost levels to fit the needs of every family. Preplanning and pre-funding your funeral can help control costs. By making decisions ahead of time, you avoid having to make choices at a time when your emotions are heightened. Pre-planning and pre-funding also provides an opportunity for you to set aside funds that can be used to pay for part or all of the service.
By planning and arranging a funeral in advance, you have the opportunity to discuss your wishes with your family. Having the details of a loved one’s funeral or memorial service settled before death allows families to make informed decisions. Pre-funding a funeral enables you to set funds aside to cover the costs of the funeral arrangements. These expenses can be partially or fully funded through the legal establishment of funeral trusts or life insurance. These funds earn interest and are fully transferable.
.NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FUNERAL DIRECTORS CODE OF PRACTICE
As a condition of membership, members agree to comply with the principles and details of this Code of Practice.
1. As a condition of membership, members agree to comply with the principles and details of this Code of Practice.
2. To observe at all times the basic rights of clients as consumers.
3. To render good service at all times and make fair charges in respect of services rendered and for merchandise supplied.
4. To ensure that advertising and marketing is always in good taste. No sensational, offensive or misleading advertising or marketing is permitted.
5. To provide clients with full and fair information about services. To have readily available price lists covering The Simple Funeral Service, and itemised charges for all the constituent parts of the Funeral Director’s services and all types of coffins and caskets available.
6. To display the price lists referred to in (5) above in the public area of our premises.
7. To give a written estimate of the Funeral Director’s charges and disbursements to be paid on a clients behalf, together with written confirmation of the funeral arrangements in each and every case, as soon as is practicable before the day of the funeral. No contractual agreement will have been entered into until these documents have been accepted by the clients.
8. To provide clients with an itemised account in a form readily comparable with the estimate.
9. To refrain from soliciting funeral orders, or offering, or giving any reward for recommendation to persons or organisations such as Health Service establishments, Nursing Homes or Coroners’ Offices, etc.
10. To display to the general public the logos of the National Association of Funeral Directors and the Funeral Arbitration Scheme.
11. To co-operate at all times with Trading Standards Offices, Citizens Advice Bureau, Consumer support groups, and any other organisation representing clients in the resolution of complaints or disputes.
12. To partake in, and abide by, the decision of the conciliation, independent, arbitration and Disciplinary Committee procedures of the Association in the resolution of any complaints or disputes between client and Funeral Director(s)
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PRIVACY POLICY
A.L. Sole & Son Funeral Directors are committed to protecting your personal information.
Our Privacy Policy contains important information about what personal details we collect; what we do with that information; who we may share it with and why; and your choices and rights when it comes to the personal information that you have given us.
This version of our Privacy Policy was last updated 30 May 2020.
Information we collect and use
Information about you that we collect and use includes:
• Information about who you are e.g. your name, and your contact details
• Information about your deceased relative or friend e.g. their name, age, religion, doctor, occupation, next of kin etc.
• Information about your contact with us e.g. meetings, phone calls, emails / letters
• Information classified as ‘sensitive’ personal information e.g. relating to your deceased relative or friend e.g. health, marital or civil partnership status. This information will only be collected and used where it’s needed to provide the service that you have requested or to comply with our legal obligations
• Information you may provide us about other people e.g. joint applicants or beneficiaries for products you have with us, such as funeral plans
Where we collect your information
We may collect your personal information directly from you, from a variety of sources, including:
• an application form for a product or service
• phone conversations with us
• emails or letters you send to us
• meetings with one of our Funeral Directors or administration staff
If your deceased relative/friend has a funeral plan, the information we collect, and use will most likely have been provided by them.
We may also collect personal information on you from places such as Care homes and hospitals e.g. to check or improve the information we hold (like your address) or to give better contact information if we are unable to contact you directly.
What we collect and use your information for
We take your privacy seriously and we will only ever collect and use information which is personal to you where it is necessary, fair and lawful to do so. We will collect and use your information only where:
• it is necessary to provide the product or service you have requested e.g. if you want to apply for a funeral plan, we will require some personal information including your name, address, date of birth, bank account details
• it’s in the legitimate interests of a third party e.g. sharing information with Hospital, Mortuary, Cemetery Office, Funeral Celebrant, Stationery provider etc.
If you do not wish us to collect and use your personal information in these ways, it may mean that we will be unable to provide you with our products or services.
Who we may share your information with
We may share your information with third parties for the reasons outlined in ‘What we collect and use your information for’.
These third parties include:
• Cemetery/Crematorium office
• Coroners
• Church Minister or Celebrants
• Donation recipients
• Nursing Homes/Hospices
• Companies that you chose to support us in the delivery of the funeral services such as, newspapers, organists, florists, refreshment providers and vehicle providers.
• Our data regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office for the UK.
We will never sell your details to someone else. Whenever we share your personal information, we will do so in line with our obligations to keep your information safe and secure.
Where your information is processed
All of your information is processed in the UK or EEA.
Where your information is being processed outside of the EEA, we take additional steps to ensure that your information is protected to at least an equivalent level as would be applied by UK / EEA data privacy laws e.g. we will put in place legal agreements with our third-party suppliers to ensure they meet these obligations.
How we protect your information
We take information and system security very seriously and we strive to comply with our obligations at all times. Any personal information which is collected, recorded or used in any way, whether on paper, online or any other media, will have appropriate safeguards applied in line with our data protection obligations.
Your information is protected by controls designed to minimise loss or damage through accident, negligence or deliberate actions. Our employees also protect sensitive or confidential information when storing or transmitting information electronically and must undertake annual training on this.
Our security controls are aligned to industry standards and good practice; providing a control environment that effectively manages risks to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your information.
How long we keep your information
We will keep your personal information only where it is necessary to provide you with our services while you are a customer.
We may also keep your information after this period but only where required to meet our legal or regulatory obligations. The length of time we keep your information for these purposes will vary depending on the obligations we need to meet.
Your individual rights
You have several rights in relation to how A.L Sole & Son Funeral Directors uses your information. They are:
• Right to be informed
You have a right to receive clear and easy to understand information on what personal information we have, why and who we share it with – we do this in our Privacy Policy and privacy notices.
• Right of access
You have the right of access to your personal information. If you wish to receive a copy of the personal information we hold on you, you may make a data subject access request (DSAR).
• Right to request that your personal information be rectified
If your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, you can request that it is corrected.
• Right to request erasure
You can ask for your information to be deleted or removed if there is not a compelling reason for A.L Sole & Son to continue to have it.
• Right to restrict processing
You can ask that we block or suppress the processing of your personal information for certain reasons. This means that we are still permitted to keep your information – but only to ensure we don’t use it in the future for those reasons you have restricted.
• Right to data portability
You can ask for a copy of your personal information. In certain circumstances, you may move, copy or transfer the personal information we hold to another company in a safe and secure way. For example, if you were moving your funeral plan to another provider.
How to make a complaint
We will always strive to collect, use and safeguard your personal information in line with data protection laws. In the event that you wish to make a complaint about how your personal data is being processed by A.L Sole & Son (or third parties described above), or how your complaint has been handled, you have the right to lodge a complaint directly with the supervisory authority and A.L Sole & Son.