In cases where the death has been reported to the coroner the procedure is somewhat different. The coroner and their officers are working in your interests. The GP will not issue a medical certificate of death. The coroner will send this to the registrar’s office in the district where the death occurred, after contact has been made with the coroner’s office.

Our services to you start when you contact us, whether by telephone or calling personally, and extend often way beyond the funeral. Our initial contact will ask for preliminary details, whereupon if the deceased has died at home, or in a private nursing home, we will effect the conveyance of the deceased to our private chapel of rest, where relatives and friends often wish to visit the deceased and pay their last respects before the day of the funeral.

We would then ask, at a time and place to suit the family, for one of our, directors to call and arrange the funeral to a standard and procedure that meets your needs and requirements, or you can call into the office at any time.

We can offer support and advice through the bereavement journey, from the initial arrangements to ongoing emotional and practical support, for as long we are required. Our services are available beyond the funeral, and is complementary to our families. We can, if requested, offer a cup of tea and a chat, on a ‘one to one’ basis, please ask for more information.

We have our own certified Funeral Celebrant, or we will be happy to arrange for the service to be taken by your own family Minister or Priest, and we continue to offer full help and support during and after your bereavement.

We have a modern fleet of Mercedes Benz Hearse and Limousines, and our Classic Fleet of Daimler DS 420 Hearse and Limousine.  We can also provide various types of Hearses, from Motorcycle, Horse Drawn, Tractor and Trailer etc.

Flowers and tributes can be carried inside the hearse next to the coffin or on top of the hearse if required. The hearses can be drawn by a pair or team of horses, or a combination of the black and white colours.

If burial is your preferred option, your main decision is which cemetery to choose. Please be aware that not all cemeteries have room for further burials, and there may be additional costs at these premises.

If you are considering cremation, there is a choice of three crematoriums to choose from.
Weeley Crematorium.
Colchester Crematorium.
Chelmsford Crematorium.
All chapels have an organ, CD player and computer based music systems which contain the most common pieces of music played at funerals. All chapels are accessible for wheelchair users. For information on the cost of each chapel and each crematorium, please ask one of our team.

We are all aware of the need to protect our planet for future generations. Although an environmentally friendly funeral is a relatively new idea, we simply see it as another way to provide a dignified farewell. We can now give people the option of an environmentally friendly funeral to rebalance carbon emissions. “Greener Goodbyes” is our simple straightforward service with three elements: an ecocoffin, a natural memorial and a community legacy. We’ll assist with everything from woodland burials to the provision of both traditional wooden and alternative coffins from sustainable sources. We can also assist with natural memorials such as the planting, donation or sponsorship of a tree. If you’d like to find out more about our ‘Greener Goodbyes’ Service and woodland burial sites in the Tendring area, please ask us  for more information.

If donations are requested in lieu of flowers, we will accept and list donations on your behalf, and forward them in due course to a charity of your choice.

Disbursements are essentially fees that we pay out on behalf of the family, i.e. doctors’ fees where appropriate, crematorium/cemetery fees and parochial fees etc. Our written estimate will detail the approximate cost of any disbursements. However, you will appreciate that we will have no control over these charges, and they could therefore be subject to slight variations. These costs can be settled by one single payment, rather than by many different bills to be settled by the estate.

No one can be cremated until the cause of death is definitely known. There are two cremation certificates (forms 4 & 5), each must be signed by a different doctor. These certificates must be paid for and listed under disbursements on our estimates and account. The cremation certificates are not required when the death is referred to a coroner, or if there is a burial of the deceased.

The following information should be treated as general guidance. We are not able to guarantee the availability of a loan, but we understand how the Department of Social Services makes a decision.

Who is entitled to help
If there is not enough money to pay for the funeral, and you are responsible for making the funeral arrangements, you may be able to get a social fund funeral payment to help with the cost. To qualify you or your partner must be in receipt of a qualifying benefit. Claim packs are available from your local Social Security Office.

Check what amount of money is available from
The estate of the person who has died, such as money from bank or building society accounts. Any insurance policies or charities, lump sum payments made by a pension scheme or relatives, (either yours or the person who has died). Any savings you have in bank or building society, National savings (including certificates or premium bonds) or in cash at home. The savings may be in your name or the name of your partner. The widow’s payment does not count as savings.

The social fund may make a contribution towards the cost of a simple funeral within the United Kingdom. This includes: