Choosing the Right Funeral Director Can Make All the Difference

Arranging a funeral for a loved one for the first time can be an emotional and distressing experience. Because of this year’s pandemic, it is an unfortunate reality that funerals have often had to be organised when least expected. Despite the challenging circumstances, most people want their loved one to get the very best care and attention as they depart this world. It can make all the difference choosing the right funeral director who attends to the proceedings with sensitivity and attention to detail.

One of the first challenges for anyone who needs to choose the right funeral director is to decide whether to use one of several chain funeral services, or to use a locally based, independent service.

There are many reasons why using an independent funeral service is the better choice. Some of these reasons are given below.

Independent funeral services are a part of the local community

Most locally based, independent funeral services are family run businesses that have been providing funeral services for many years, often for generations. Their business will be well known in the surrounding community. They tend to be quite small businesses, with locally employed staff. It is not unusual for these employees to have worked all their working lives for the same funeral director. The family who owns and runs the funeral service will most likely be active in the community they are part of, running charities or organising fund raising. You can easily find out about these sorts of services and the level of care they take from others in your community.

Independent funeral services tend to be more flexible than chain businesses

In many cases, funerals have to be arranged at short notice if a loved one dies suddenly. At other times, the deceased may have made known their preference for the type of service they wish to have. An independent funeral service tends to be far more flexible than a chain service and will have had many more years experience arranging funerals of all types. This means that a customised funeral service is more likely to be better arranged with the family business rather than the sorts of restricted packages that chain funeral services often offer.

Independent funeral services put more stress on the quality of service rather than profit

Funeral services are businesses, so of course must be profitable to survive, but locally based family run funeral services tend to have pride in the quality of the service they provide and this in many cases is the priority for them rather than the fee they charge for the service. In fact, because of the fact that the independent businesses have lower overheads than chain funeral directors, they are often cheaper. In any case, you will get a wealth of advice about what is included in the service and how it is charged.

Independent funeral services provide reassuring continuity throughout the funeral proceedings

It is often a reassurance to know that a family run funeral service will make sure they participate throughout the proceedings. Seeing a familiar face at the funeral service itself who has been there at every step of the way certainly helps. Many of these independent funeral directors may include a post funeral bereavement service if this is requested.