LONDON (dpa-AFX) - The UK's competition watchdog said it continues to have serious concerns about the funeral sector, including price transparency. It has published 'provisional remedies' for key problems faced by customers.
In its final report, the Competition and Markets Authority or CMA suggested that information must be provided in advance of a customer committing to purchase a service so that people know the price they will be charged and the key terms of business.
The CMA also suggested in the report that customers should be made aware of any relevant business, financial and commercial interests of the funeral director, and that certain practices--such as payments which may incentivise hospitals, care homes or hospices to refer customers to a particular funeral director-- will be prohibited.
The CMA has recommended the U.K.government to establish an independent inspection and registration regime to monitor the quality of funeral director services as a first step in the establishment of a broader regulatory regime for funeral services.
The CMA's report said the exceptional circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic mean that some of the remedies the CMA might otherwise have pursued, including measures to control prices, could not be developed.
However, the CMA said it continues to have serious concerns about the sector and one of the conclusions of the report is that it should consider whether a further market investigation reference is needed when conditions are more stable.
Meanwhile, Dignity plc (DTY.L), the UK's only listed provider of funeral related services, acknowledged the release of the Competition and Markets Authority's Final Decision Report. The company strongly supports the opportunity to improve standards within the sector and educate the expectations of consumers.
Dignity said it has engaged constructively with the CMA since the market investigation into the supply of services by funeral directors at the point of need and the supply of crematoria services was announced in June 2018.
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