Terms and Conditions

These are the terms and conditions on which LDC Funeral Services Limited (“we”, “us”, or “our”) supply goods and/or services to you.

We are independent funeral directors and we provide a range of professional funeral services and related goods. We are registered in England and Wales under company number 12039864 and our registered office is 27 Old Gloucester Street London WC1N 3AX .

You can contact us by telephoning our office number on 020 7482 0264 or by writing to us at LDC Funeral Services Ltd Oakford Yard Oakford Road London NW5 1AH or paul@ldcfunerals.co.uk or the address above. If we have to contact you we will do so by telephone or by writing to you at the email address or postal address you provided us with. When we use the words “writing” or “written” in these terms, this includes emails.

Please read these terms carefully before you employ our services. These terms tell you who we are, how we will provide goods and/or services to you, how you and we may change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms, please contact us to discuss.

1. OUR CONTRACT WITH YOU

1.1 For funerals, our acceptance of your order will take place when we confirm to you including in writing that we are able to provide our services. At that point a contract will come into existence between you and us.

You acknowledge that we may incur costs in preparing to provide services prior to the commencement of the funeral. If you subsequently decide not to proceed you agree that you will be charged for our reasonable costs incurred up to the point of cancellation, subject to a maximum charge of £1,000 for administrative work plus a per 24 hour or part thereof daily charge of £25 for the deceased (body) storage at our premises from point of entry to point of departure.

In addition a non-returnable deposit of £250 will be required for each third-party booking made on your behalf (including, but not limited to horse-drawn hearses, motorcycle hearses, custom hearses or limousines). If such services are cancelled this deposit will be retained as these providers are unable to re-hire the service once booked for a specific date and the deposit is paid to them to partially cover their losses arising from cancellation.

1.2 For all other services and goods we provide to you our acceptance of your order will take place when we write to you to accept it at which point a contract will come into existence between you and us.

1.3 If we are unable to accept part or all of your order we will inform you of this in writing and will not charge you for the goods or services. This might be because the goods are out of stock because of unexpected limits on our resources which we could not reasonably plan for because we have identified an error in the price or description of the goods or services or because we are unable to meet a delivery deadline you have specified.

2. OUR GOODS AND SERVICES

2.1 We will provide the goods and/or services to you set out in your order.

2.2 The goods we provide to you will:

2.2.1 correspond to the description and any specification you agree with us (see clause 11 below); and

2.2.2 be of satisfactory quality and fit for any purpose which we inform you of or that you make known to us.

2.3 We will deliver the services to you with reasonable care and skill.

3. YOUR RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES

3.1 If you wish to make a change to the goods or services you have ordered please contact us. We will let you know if the change is possible. If it is possible we will let you know about any changes to the price of the goods and/or services, the timing of supply or anything else which would be necessary as a result of your requested change and ask you to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the change. If we cannot make the change or the consequences of making the change are unacceptable to you, you may want to end the contract (see clause 7.2).

4. OUR RIGHTS TO MAKE CHANGES

4.1 We may make minor changes to the goods or services to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements for example at certain times viewings of the deceased may not be possible due to contamination risks, or churchyard regulations may not permit certain types of headstone.

4.2 If we have to make any other changes to these terms or the goods or services, we will notify you and you may then contact us to end the contract before the changes take effect and receive a refund for any goods or services paid for but not received.

5. PROVIDING THE GOODS AND SERVICES

5.1 If there is any cost of delivery of any goods we will inform you of the cost over the telephone or in writing.

5.2 During the order process we will agree with you the estimated delivery date for the delivery of any goods and the provision of any services.

5.3 You will own the goods, and the goods will be your responsibility, from the time we deliver the goods to the address you gave us for delivery.

5.4 We may need certain information from you so that we can supply the goods and/or services to you, for example, your address and access to the property. If so, this will have been explained to you and we will contact you to ask for this information. If you do not give us this information within a reasonable time of us asking for it, or if you give us incomplete or incorrect information, we may make an additional charge of a reasonable sum to compensate us for any extra work that is required as a result. We will not be responsible for supplying the goods or services late or not supplying any part of them if this is caused by you not giving us the information we need within a reasonable time of us asking for it.

5.4 Electronic services provided by a third party with regard music or web streaming will be supplied on the understanding that any technical outage or failure to be able to access any service is not the responsibility of LDC Funeral Services Ltd and therefor no claim of damages for loss may be made against us. We will however endeavour to assist in any liaison with the third party provider to resolve any issue.

5.5 From time to time, at our discretion, we may create a recording of the funeral service. This recording will be securely held and will be deleted within a reasonable timeframe, unless requested by the family. If you have any concerns, please let us know.

5.6 PACKAGES – We will always endeavour to provide the services included within each package. However in certain circumstances it may be necessary to supply additional services — for example, where a larger than standard coffin is required due to the size of the deceased. In such cases an additional charge of £250 will apply. ACORN PACKAGE direct cremation inclusive price includes removal from hospitals and care homes. Private home removals in hours £499 / out of hours £599.

6. PRICE AND PAYMENT

6.1 The price of the goods or services will be the price as told to you at the time you place an order with us. We use our best efforts to ensure that the price of the goods or services advised to you are correct. However please see clause 6.3 for what happens if we discover an error in the price of the goods or services you order.

6.2 You agree that you are responsible for paying us the full price of the goods or services when such payment falls due, before, and irrespective of the receipt of any sums due from any third party, including but not limited to any Government contribution.

6.3 It is always possible that, despite our best efforts, some of the goods or services we sell may be incorrectly priced. We will normally check prices before accepting your order so that, where the correct price of the goods and/or services at your order date is less than our stated price at your order date, we will charge the lower amount. If the correct price of the goods and/or services at your order date is higher than the price stated to you, we will contact you for your instructions before we accept your order.

6.4 You must pay for the goods and/or services in full within five working days of the funeral date. The invoice we provide by email will provide details of how to settle the account. LDC Funeral Services Ltd is charged 2.5% commission by all debit/credit and charge card companies and if you use this form of payment you agree to this cost being added to your final invoice.Bank transfers to our account carry no charge.

6.5 If you do not make any payment to us by the due date we reserve the right to postpone or delay the funeral which includes any cemetery or crematorium reservations and request you make arrangements to remove the deceased from our premises after the settlement of our costs to date. We will ensure all relevant documentation is returned to you and the contract between us will be at an end. It is always our desire to resolve any difficulty or problem arising from non payment of a funeral account so please always call us to discuss options.

6.6 If you think an invoice is wrong please contact us promptly to let us know.

6.7 Late payment – we reserve the right to add interest on all outstanding accounts at 5% per month that remain unpaid and also any legal and court costs incurred due to non payment.

6.8 LDC Funeral Services Ltd. will on receipt of permission and the required documentation bring deceased persons onto our premises and place them in chiller/freezer storage as we deem appropriate prior to the funeral date. Our standard charge applies for care of the deceased for 14 days from the point of arrival at our premises. There will be an additional charge of £25 per day for each additional day until the funeral date.

6.9 Any confirmed funeral that is cancelled or rescheduled through no fault of the funeral director will incur a daily storage charge of £45 per day until a funeral takes place or the deceased is removed from the premises.

7. YOUR RIGHT TO CANCEL

7.1 Exercising your right to change your mind (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013). For most goods or services bought over the telephone, by exchange of emails or away from our premises, you have a legal right to change your mind within the relevant cancellation period and receive a refund as follows:

7.1.1 Cancelling an order for goods. For goods you have bought from us you have the right to change your mind and cancel within 14 days after the day you (or someone you nominate) receives the goods. You do not have the right to cancel if you change your mind in respect of goods that are made to your specification and/or clearly personalised to the deceased, including but not limited to, coffins, obituaries and floral tributes. This is because we would be unable to re-use these goods for another client if you cancelled and therefore unfortunately we cannot accept cancellations of such goods.

7.1.2 Cancelling an order for services. For services you have ordered from us you have the right to change your mind and cancel within 14 days after the day on which we accept your order. By responding in writing to the email we will send you requesting confirmation that you will use our services, you expressly request that we commence the services within the 14 day cancellation period provided by the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. You acknowledge that if the services are fully performed within the 14 days cancellation period, you will lose the right to change your mind and cancel the services under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. If you cancel after we have started the services but before the services are completed then you must pay us for the services provided up until the time you tell us that you have changed your mind.

7.2 To exercise your right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel by a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post or email). Our contact details are at the top of these terms.

7.3 If you are exercising your right to change your mind in respect of goods which were delivered and the goods are suitable for posting you must pay for the cost of return.

7.4 Ending the contract because of something we have done or are going to do. If you are ending a contract for a reason set out at 7.4.1 to 7.4.4 below the contract will end immediately and we will refund you in full for any goods and/or services which have not been provided and you may also be entitled to compensation. The reasons are:

7.4.1 we have told you about an upcoming change to the goods or services or these terms which you do not agree to (see clause 4.2);

7.4.2 we have told you about an error in the price or description of the goods or services you have ordered and you do not wish to proceed;

7.4.3 there is a risk that supply of the goods or services may be significantly delayed because of events outside our control;

7.4.4 you have a legal right to end the contract because of something we have done wrong. In this event we would return the deceased and all relevant paperwork and your financial outlay to you less our costs to date.

8. OUR RIGHT TO END THIS CONTRACT

8.1 We may end the contract for goods or services at any time by writing to you if:

8.1.1 you do not make any payment to us when it is due.

8.1.2 we find out that your belongings have been taken away from you to pay off your debts, or a receiving order has been made against you.

9. OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE SUFFERED BY YOU

9.1 Our liability for any loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or our failing to use reasonable care and skill is limited to the total contract price due by you to us. We are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen, for example, if you discussed it with us during the order process.

9.2 We shall not be liable for any loss or damage to your property or that of any other person unless caused by our negligent action or breach of the contract by us. This includes delivery to our premises goods that you have chosen to supply. We will reasonably take delivery and check that the items delivered are fit for purpose however in the event this is not the case we will not be responsible for the return of such items.

9.3 Nothing in these terms shall operate so as to exclude, limit or restrict our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation or for any other liability the exclusion or limitation of which is not permitted by English law.

10. DELAYING EVENTS

10.1 We will not be liable or responsible for any failure to perform or delay in the delivery of any goods or services in the event of any strike, lock out, trade dispute, accident, fire, flood, inclement weather, or any natural disaster or act of God or any contingency whatsoever beyond our reasonable control (a “Delaying Event”) affecting the delivery of the goods or services ordered by you. Such suspension or cancellation shall not constitute a breach of contract between us, nor will you be entitled to claim for any loss or damage howsoever arising as a result of a Delaying Event.

11. THE DECEASED

11.1 We make reasonable and proper efforts to care for the deceased’s body and may, however not without the ‘clients’ express permission or at their request carry out recognised embalming procedures in order to keep the deceased’s body in a viewable state.

11.2 We reserve the right to refuse any person from viewing of the deceased at our property at any time including, but without limitation, if the deceased suffered from an infectious disease or where you have specifically previously asked for the coffin to be closed. We will advise if the deceased has deteriorated to a point where in our professional opinion viewing my be distressing and in the event the ‘client’ still wishes to view we will ask they sign a waiver stating they had been advised of the deteriorated condition of the deceased and that they take full responsibility for any upsetting or distressing outcomes.

12.3 Unless arising from a negligent action or breach of the contract by us, and we shall not be liable for:

11.3.1 loss of any valuables, clothing or personal effects of the deceased or such items belonging left with the deceased but belonging to any other person. We strongly recommend that no valuable items are left on or with the deceased. We will only, if expressly requested in writing by the ‘client’ remove and return items of jewellery from the deceased; Only the client may request return of any valuables on the deceased person and is the only person notified of the existence of such be this by telephone or any other form of communication.

11.3.2 any damage to the body of the deceased which is sustained before the deceased is under our full control.

12. CREMATIONS

12.1 If the deceased is to be cremated we will agree with you which crematorium will perform this service. On occasion it may be necessary for us to change the location at which the deceased is cremated, for example due to unforeseen temporary closure of a particular crematorium. In this event, we will inform you in advance of the change.

12.2 If requested by you as part of your order, we will collect the ashes of the deceased following cremation and store these for two weeks free of charge. For each week beyond the two week period there will be a charge of £45 – chargeable at our discretion. In the absence of any communication from the main party after a six month period (unless prior arrangements are made) we reserve the right to scatter the ashes in the Garden of Remembrance at the crematorium where the cremation took place – a record of such scatterings is held with the crematorium office. You agree to this procedure on agreement of the funeral contract in the form of settling our presented invoice in full.

12.3 Delivery of ashes to a specified location, i.e. clients home or other location can be arranged. POA.

12.4 LDC Funeral Services Ltd will not liaise or arrange with embassies or consulates for the repatriation of ashes without specific prior agreement while arranging the cremation service. Any request by the client for us to do so after the cremation service will incur additional costs. Any structural adjustments or additions to an ashes urn to satisfy the requirements of any specific jurisdiction will also incur additional charges. The client will be advised and agree of these charges prior to any further action by LDC Funeral Services Ltd.

12.5 PACKAGES- All  cremation funeral packages with the exception of the Full Cremation Service package are for services only Monday to Friday at either 9.30am or 10.15am at Islington Crematorium London N2 9AG. Weekends or later times revert to the individual services pricing that can be found at the bottom of our price list. To qualify for the packages on offer you must agree for the cremation service to be held at Islington Crematorium 278 High Road London N2 9AG. Other crematoria may be selected but there will be a supplemental charge that will take additional cremation costs and staffing into account. LDC Funeral Services Ltd reserve the right to change or amend any of our services at our express discretion. Referral discounts or offers are not transferable and are strictly confidential to individual cases. We reserve the right to withdraw any referral or offer at any time. 

13. GENERAL

Under the health and safety act 1974 we have an obligation to ensure the safety of our staff and also the safety of the public with whom we interact at funerals.We will always provide the necessary staff required to ensure all parts of any funeral can be carried out safely. Even if the client wishes for family or friends to carry a coffin into church or cemetery we will still supply the necessary staff to carry out this task and throughout that process supervise to ensure safe practice.Clients may not demand or order removal of bearers charges from funeral invoices and this is not at the discretion of  LDC Funeral Services Ltd.

13.1 You need our consent to transfer your rights to someone else. You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these terms to another person if we agree to this in writing. 

13.2 Where the order is placed by two or more people, each of you will be jointly and severally liable for compliance with the obligations under these terms (this means that we are entitled to enforce our rights against one, some or all of you as we consider appropriate in the circumstances).

13.3 If a court finds part of this contract illegal, the rest will continue in force. Each of the paragraphs of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.

13.4 Even if we delay in enforcing this contract, we can still enforce it later. If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date. For example, if you miss a payment and we do not chase you but we continue to provide the goods and/or services, we can still require you to make the payment at a later date.

13.5 These terms constitute the entire understanding between us in relation to a contract, so please tell us if anything we have said is not included.

13.6 These terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the goods and/or services in the English courts. If you live in Scotland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the goods and/or services in either the Scottish or the English courts. If you live in Northern Ireland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the goods and/or services in either the Northern Irish or the English courts.

13.7 By commissioning LDC Funeral Services Ltd to carry out a funeral on your behalf, you accept that you have read these terms and conditions and accept the content therein.