Privacy Policy

We are committed to protecting your privacy and the personal information that you provide to us. This policy sets out how we collect, use, share, and protect personal information about you, in accordance with the requirements of the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. If you would like more information on GDPR or the Data Protection Act 2018 and how it impacts you, this can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website at ico.org.uk.

Who are we?

Lowcost-Funerals is managed by Finest Funerals a limited company registered in England and Wales with company no. 09862207; registered office: 5 Minton Place, Victoria Road, Bicester, Oxfordshire, OX26 6QB, United Kingdom. We specialise in all aspects of funeral arrangements, repatriation services and memorials & renovations. We are members of The National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) and we arrange funeral plans on your behalf with Golden Charter.

What information do we collect

• Your name, address, date of birth, telephone number(s), email address.
• Your religious preferences if appropriate.
• Any medical conditions relayed to us: this information will be used to improve our service and allow us to provide potentially vulnerable customers with the support they need.
• Your preferences in relation to a funeral plan for yourself or family member or friend.
• Your bank account or payment card details when you choose to purchase a funeral or other service from us.

Why do we collect this information?

All information that we collect enables us to deliver our service. It will be used for the following purposes:

• answer enquiries and requests;
• understand your needs and provide you with all available options;
• provide you with a quotation for the desired service or product;
• fulfil the service as instructed by you;
• arrange your pre-paid or pre-need funeral plan as instructed by you (if applicable);
• keep details of funerals on file for future reference in the event of future family funerals or legal requests.

How do we collect this information?

We use different methods to collect information from and about you, including:

• direct interactions with you, such as online by email, by telephone, by letter or face to face;
• a request for service and product brochures to be sent to you;
• if you enter a competition, promotion or survey;
• if you wish to give us some feedback;
• we use Closed Circuit TV for security purposes in our car parks, entrance and reception areas, which will capture your image should you visit one of our offices;
• we collect additional information automatically about your visit to our website through the use of cookies;
• we may receive information about you from various third parties in relation to funeral arrangements for yourself or family or friends.

Use of Cookies

A cookie is a small piece of information sent by a web server to a web browser, which enables the server to collect information from the browser. We use cookies to identify you when you visit this website and to keep track of your browsing patterns. You can find out more about cookies on ico.org.uk/for-the-public/online/cookies. Most browsers will allow you to turn off cookies; however doing this may restrict your use of our website.

What do we do with this information?

We will use your personal information to:

• contact you by email, telephone and letter, to assist with funeral enquiries and arrange the funeral;
• make funeral arrangements with third party suppliers;
• arrange funeral plans on your behalf;
• store your information along with the deceased information on our files indefinitely for future reference, such as the provision of exhumation, repeat of family services, plot information etc;
• visit you at your home address or mutually convenient place as instructed by you;
• pass your details to our third party suppliers, including where applicable: the crematorium or cemetery, minister or celebrant, doctors, florist, musician, venues, newspaper in the case of an obituary, online memorial site in the case of an online memorial, vehicle hire company, bearing staff, catering venues, third party funeral directors in the case of a repatriation, etc.
• contact you after the funeral has taken place to ask for feedback;
• pass your details to Golden Charter if you apply for a pre-paid funeral plan or make a pre-paid funeral plan enquiry;
• carry out credit checks on your ability to pay our charges;
• pass on your details to our debt collection agency if the payment terms are not met;
• contact you to make arrangements for return of the deceased’s cremated remains to you or elsewhere as instructed by you;
• invite you to special remembrance and charity fundraising events that we host from time to time, eg. hang a tag on one of Remembrance trees at Christmas.

We do not use your information for marketing purposes.

Disclosure of your information

We will not pass on your personal information to third parties without first obtaining your consent. The following third parties may receive your personal information for the following purpose(s):

• doctor(s) if medical certification is required/applicable;
• embalmer for the deceased if required/applicable;
• crematorium for the purpose of organising cremation of the deceased;
• cemetery for the purpose of organising burial of the deceased;
• nominated minister or celebrant for the purpose of arranging details of the funeral service;
• local musician for the purpose of liaising with you for your musical choices for the funeral service;
• florist(s) for the purpose of arranging the flowers for the funeral service;
• venue(s) for the purpose of holding the reception as part of the funeral service;
• caterer for the purpose of arranging the details of the funeral reception;
• vehicle hire company or transportation agency including the provision of horses for the purpose of transport of the deceased and cortege at the funeral;
• printer or designer if creating the funeral service sheets externally;
• memorial site if providing an online tribute page for the deceased;
• Golden Charter if an application or enquiry for a pre-paid funeral plan is made;
• credit reference agency to carry out credit checks.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal information and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal information for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal information for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

How long do we keep your information?

We will process personal information for as long as is necessary to allow us to fulfil our funeral services and will securely store your personal information and details of the funeral indefinitely for future reference, eg. in the event of future family funerals or legal requests.

Your Legal Rights;

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal information:

• Request access to your personal information.
• Request correction of your personal information.
• Request erasure of your personal information.
• Object to processing of your personal information.
• Request restriction of processing your personal information.
• Request transfer of your personal information.
• Right to withdraw consent.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us.

Complaints

In the event that you wish to make a complaint about how we process your personal information or how your complaint has been handled, you have the right to lodge a complaint with us or directly with the supervisory authority (ICO).

The details for each of these contacts are:

Finest Funerals Limited
10 London Road, Enfield, EN2 6EB.
Email: info@finestfunerals.co.uk.
Telephone: 020 8366 0999.

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Email: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ (for Live Chat via internet),
Telephone:  0303 123 1113.