Terms of Business
What we agree to do, what you agree to pay, and when.
These are the terms you agree to when you ask us to arrange a funeral. They bind you and they bind us.
If a clause does not make sense, ring us and ask.
1. Who we are
You are dealing with Gavin J Reynolds & Son Family Funeral Directors Limited, a company registered in England and Wales. We trade as Gavin J. Reynolds Family Funeral Directors.
- Company number
- 10734263
- Registered office
- 78 Sea Road, Fulwell, Sunderland, SR6 9DB
- info@grfunerals.co.uk
- Fulwell
- 78 Sea Road, Sunderland, SR6 9DB, 0191 548 7000
- Grindon
- 205 Gleneagles Road, Sunderland, SR4 8JD, 0191 534 8000
2. What we do
We arrange and carry out funerals. What that includes depends on what you choose. We write it down for you before the funeral takes place.
Anything we put in writing about the funeral or about this firm forms part of our agreement with you. That covers the estimate, the confirmation of the arrangements, and what is written on this website. If we need to change something we have written, we ask you first.
We are a member of the National Association of Funeral Directors, and we work to the UK Funeral Director Code.
You can read the Code at nafd.org.uk.
3. What we charge
Our package prices include the third-party fees we pay for you. That means the crematorium fee, and an allowance towards a minister or celebrant.
The cemetery or interment fee is separate and will be priced with you when we discuss the arrangements.
Where a minister or celebrant charges more than that allowance, you pay the difference. We tell you the figure before you decide.
Some things cannot be priced until we know what you want. Those are priced when we speak.
Every price we publish is on our price pages. Ask at either branch for a printed copy.
4. Paying us
We take any method of payment.
We ask for a deposit when we agree the arrangements. It covers what we pay out for you: fees such as the crematorium, the cemetery and the minister, and any extras from other suppliers, such as flowers, catering or a newspaper notice.
Your estimate shows the amount. It is part of your total, not an extra charge, and it is due within 7 days of that meeting.
We post your invoice 7 days after the funeral, itemised in full. The balance is due within 30 days of it.
You are responsible for the account. That stays true if a bank, a solicitor, an executor or anyone else is going to pay it. If you intend to ask one of them, tell us straight away.
If you are applying for help with funeral costs, tell us that too. The application is yours to make. It usually does not cover the whole account, so you are still responsible for the balance.
If the account is still unpaid 12 months after the invoice, we may charge interest. The rate is 12 per cent a year, until the account is paid.
5. Changing the arrangements
What we give you is an estimate, not a fixed quotation. It is worked out from what you have chosen and from what other people charge us.
Costs can change. Third-party fees go up, and families add things before, during and after the funeral. We tell you about a change before it goes on your account, and we agree it with you first.
Your final account is itemised the same way as your estimate. You can lay the two side by side.
6. Your right to change your mind
If we agree the funeral with you somewhere other than one of our two branches, for example in your own home, in a care home or at a hospital, the law gives you 14 days to change your mind. You also have those 14 days if we came to see you somewhere like that and then finished the arrangements at one of our branches, or by telephone or email straight afterwards. And you have them if we agree everything by telephone, email or through our website without meeting you first. The 14 days run from the day after the day we agree the arrangements.
The only time this right does not apply is when you come to us at 78 Sea Road or 205 Gleneagles Road and we agree the funeral there, without our having visited you somewhere else first. If you are not sure which applies to you, ask us and we will tell you.
Almost every family needs us to start work straight away, long before 14 days have passed. If you want us to start straight away, we will ask you to say so in writing, on the arrangement form or by email. Two things follow from that.
First, if you then change your mind before the funeral has taken place, you can still cancel, but you will have to pay us a fair share of the price for the work we had already done by the time you told us, in proportion to the whole of what we agreed.
Second, once the funeral has taken place, the right to cancel ends, because the service has been fully carried out. We will tell you that in writing at the time we ask you to confirm that you want us to begin.
To cancel, tell us in any clear way: telephone 0191 548 7000, email info@grfunerals.co.uk, or write to us at 78 Sea Road, Fulwell, Sunderland, SR6 9DB. You can use the cancellation form we give you with these terms, but you do not have to.
7. What we are responsible for
The law says we must carry out the funeral with reasonable care and skill, and in a reasonable time. Nothing in these terms takes that away, because nothing is allowed to.
Some of what happens is done by other people: the minister or celebrant, the florist, the caterer, the crematorium. Where you ask us to book one of them, we book them and we pay them.
We do not carry out their work. If one of them lets you down, we are responsible for how we chose and booked them.
Tell your funeral director about anything the person who has died is wearing or has with them. We will write it down. If you ask for something to stay on them, we cannot be responsible for it once visitors are in the room.
8. If something goes wrong
Tell us. Our complaints procedure says who reads it, how quickly we answer, and what happens next.
Read how to complain.
9. Our insurance
Details of our professional indemnity insurance are displayed at both of our branches. You can also email info@grfunerals.co.uk and we will send them to you.
10. The law that applies
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. Any dispute about them goes to the courts of England and Wales.
11. Your information
What we do with the information you give us is set out in our privacy notice.
Read our privacy notice.
If anything here is unclear, ring us or write to us: 0191 548 7000, info@grfunerals.co.uk.
