Diagnosis + Prescription

The Funeral Business Health Check

A confidential, self-serve assessment of how ready your business is for a funeral profession that’s already being regulated — and how to close the gaps before regulation, a complaint, or a competitor does it for you.

Start the Health Check

Why This Matters Now

Regulation isn’t coming to the funeral profession. It’s already here.

Most operators think of “regulation” as a future event. It isn’t. Part of the market is already regulated, part of it is already required to be transparent, and one UK nation has already introduced statutory licensing for funeral directors. The rest of the market is watching — and so are your clients.

Already Regulated

Prepaid Funeral Plans

Since July 2022, prepaid funeral plans have been regulated by the FCA. Providers must be authorised, and client money must be protected. This part of the industry has already crossed the line into formal regulation.

Already In Force

At-Need Price Transparency

Following the CMA’s funerals market investigation, funeral directors are already required to display a standardised price list — including their cheapest cremation and cheapest attended funeral — at every premises and online.

Direction of Travel

Statutory Licensing

Scotland has already introduced statutory licensing for funeral directors — the first regime of its kind in the UK. England & Wales has no licensing regime yet, but industry bodies have repeatedly called for one, and the precedent now exists.

The Framework

Diagnosis, then prescription

This isn’t a generic quiz. It’s built around the standards already expected of a regulated or soon-to-be-regulated funeral business.

01 / DIAGNOSIS

How ready is your business, right now?

15 questions across five areas regulators, the CMA, and clients already care about: pricing transparency, governance and complaints, financial protection, staff standards, and regulatory horizon-scanning. You get a scored, honest picture in under five minutes.

02 / PRESCRIPTION

What to do to get ready

Every area below your readiness threshold comes with a specific, practical next step — not a generic “consider improving your processes.” Where it’s useful, we point to the relevant Funeral Insight advisory service.

Diagnosis

Answer honestly. Nothing here is saved or sent anywhere unless you choose to email yourself the results.

0 of 15 answered

01

Pricing Transparency & Consumer Information

What the CMA already requires of every funeral director.

1. Do you display a standardised price list — including your cheapest direct cremation and cheapest attended funeral — at every premises and on your website?

2. Is a full itemised price list given to every client before they sign anything, without them having to ask for it?

3. If a regulator or journalist visited one of your premises today, could your pricing display pass inspection without changes?

02

Governance, Records & Complaints

What any future inspector — or an unhappy client — will ask for first.

4. Do you have a written complaints procedure that is proactively given to every client?

5. Do you keep a documented case file — instructions, consents, key decisions — for every funeral you conduct?

6. Do you have a formal policy for supporting clients making at-need decisions under acute grief or pressure?

03

Financial Protection & Client Money

The standard already set by FCA-regulated prepaid plans.

7. If you take pre-need deposits or sell arrangements outside an FCA-authorised plan provider, is that money formally protected (trust, insurance-backed guarantee, or registered provider)?

8. Is client money (deposits, disbursements) kept separate from your day-to-day operating cash flow?

9. Are your refund and cancellation terms for at-need services written down and given to clients?

04

Staff Competence & Standards

What a licensing scheme modelled on Scotland’s would expect to see.

10. Are client-facing and mortuary-facing staff trained to a recognised qualification or code of practice?

11. Do you have documented SOPs for care of the deceased, mortuary hygiene, and health & safety?

12. Is there one named person in the business who owns compliance — not “everyone” and not “nobody”?

05

Regulatory Horizon-Scanning & Future Readiness

Whether you’re planning for where the profession is heading, or waiting for it to arrive.

13. Does someone at owner or board level actively track regulatory developments affecting funeral directors (e.g. Scotland’s licensing scheme, CMA enforcement, policy proposals for England & Wales)?

14. If a licensing regime landed in England & Wales tomorrow, could you evidence compliance within 30 days?

15. Is regulatory risk treated as a standing item in business planning, rather than something dealt with only when it becomes urgent?

Takes under 5 minutes. You’ll get category-by-category scores and a specific next step for every gap.

Your Results

Diagnosis complete

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Overall Readiness

Band

Your summary will appear here.

Prescription is the easy part to read. The hard part is doing it.

If you’d rather have someone prioritise this list with you and build a 90-day plan around it, book a strategy session with Funeral Insight.

Book a Strategy Session

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