Shockingly, the funeral industry in England is not a regulated profession. This may well surprise people, and rightly so. When families are at their most vulnerable, facing the heartbreak of losing a loved one, they turn to funeral directors expecting care, compassion, and professionalism. Yet, under current UK law, any individual can set themselves up as a funeral director, with no qualifications, no knowledge, no training, no experience, and, as some devastating stories have shown, no moral compass.
So what does this actually mean in practice? It means that there is nothing legally stopping someone from taking care of loved ones and their family at the most difficult and vulnerable stage of their lives. No inspections. No licensing requirements. No governing organisation to hold them accountable. It’s a glaring hole in the system, one that has already caused serious damage to grieving families and to the reputation of a profession that should be built on trust, dignity and integrity.
We voluntarily hold ourselves to the highest standards of care, transparency, and professionalism.
The Consequences of No Oversight
In recent years, multiple stories have hit the headlines, exposing the disturbing consequences of a lack of regulation in the funeral profession. These stories are not one-off anomalies, they are symptoms of an unregulated industry.
In some of the most harrowing cases, funeral directors have exploited the emotional vulnerability of families for financial gain, or failed to provide even the most basic standards of care, and because there is no mandatory inspection or licensing system, these businesses can continue trading until something goes catastrophically wrong and in some cases, continue to trade, simply because they can.
This is not just unacceptable, it is dangerous. This is why regulation isn’t just a nice idea. It’s a necessity.
What We Stand For
At Hartys of Chester Family Funeral Directors, we believe that everyone deserves a funeral director they can trust, one who is held to a high professional standard and who is accountable to an external organisation. That’s why we’re proud to be Chester’s only licensed to practice funeral firm as well as being full members of S.A.I.F. (The Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors) a prestigious organisation which sets high standards for their members to adhere to. We voluntarily hold ourselves to the highest standards of care, transparency, and professionalism.
But we don’t believe this should be voluntary. We believe it should be mandatory.
We are actively supporting the campaign to introduce proper regulation across the funeral profession. This includes:
- Licensing requirements for all funeral directors
- Regular inspections of premises and facilities
- Mandatory training
- A regulatory organisation to enforce standards and and to ensure all funeral directors have someone to answer to
When families are placing their loved ones in your care, the stakes couldn’t be higher. It is a profound responsibility, and one that should never be left to chance.
Let’s Raise the Standard, Together.
The funeral profession must be brought in line with other professional services, where regulation protects both practitioners and the public. We owe it to every grieving family, past, present, and future, to ensure they are treated with the respect, dignity, and professionalism they deserve.
Let’s make this profession worthy of the trust people place in it.
Let’s make regulation a requirement, not a choice.
