People react in different ways to loss, and the way in which grief may affect you depends on many things, such as what kind of loss you have suffered, your upbringing, your beliefs or religion, your age, your relationships, and your physical and mental health.
We provide all our clients with access to a professional 24 hour telephone bereavement and advice counselling service. We also provide information and advice on how to deal with grief and some useful contacts in our Guide to dealing with Grief and Loss that you may find helpful.
We’ve tried to detail some of the more commonly asked questions here for you – but if you can’t find the answer you want, we’re here to help you and you can call us any time on 0800 484 0260.
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Not all direct cremations are the same. A Simplicity Cremation is a complete and straightforward service that is arranged directly over the phone, generally without the need to visit a funeral director and does not involve any formal ceremony or service. The deceased is taken into care until the cremation takes place and then the ashes are returned, or scattered within the remembrance garden at the crematorium. Find out if a direct cremation is right for you here.
When someone dies, the death needs to be registered before the funeral arrangements can proceed. You can find more information about registering a death in England and Wales, and Scotland here or read our guide on what to do when someone dies.
Our cremation service is suitable for all religions. We provide the cremation service without any religious aspects, allowing you to arrange your own religious service with your faith leader once the ashes are returned if you so wish.
The price of £1,495 covers all of the essential services you need – full details of the service can be found here. You will be required to make full payment over the phone when you arrange a Simplicity Cremation.
There are two additional charges that you may incur, which are for doctors fees to produce medical papers and if the deceased is collected outside of working hours. These fees are not always applicable, which is why they are separated out as additional charges.
The Government's website, The Money Advice Service has some useful information and advice about paying for a funeral.
There are only two possible extra charges with a Simplicity Cremation. These fees are not applicable to everyone which is why they are separated.
There is an additional fee of £164 for Doctor's fees to provide Medical Papers for the cremation to take place. These are not payable if a full coroners investigation is required or for any death registered in Scotland.
We charge an additional £150 if you wish us to bring the deceased into our care outside of the normal 9am to 5pm business hours.
There are no extra charges for collecting the deceased from a non-hospital environment, cremations for larger clients or returning the ashes to you.
For a cremation funeral to take place, it is necessary for two Doctors to certify the death. A fee of £164 is chargeable for the Doctors to complete the required Medical Papers. If the death has occurred in Scotland, there is no fee to be paid. There is also no fee to pay for instances where the death has occurred in the rest of the UK, where a post mortem is required by and conducted by a coroner.
We accept payment by debit or credit card over the phone. The full payment must be made prior to us undertaking the service.
We require full payment over the phone for the service at the time of booking. However, if you qualify for the Government's Social Fund Funeral Payment you may be able to successfully claim the cost back. We will provide you with a full receipted invoice which you will need to make a claim within 3 months of the funeral. Find out more about the Government's Social Fund Funeral Payment here.
The Government's website, The Money Advice Service also has some useful information and advice about paying for a funeral.
Lots of our customers are keen to plan ahead with a pre-paid direct cremation plan. This allows you to be in control of your own funeral and protects your loved ones from unexpected costs, price rises and the stress of making arrangements at a difficult time.
We don’t offer a Simplicity Pre-paid Plan just now, but you can register your details by phone on 0800 484 0260 or email us and we'll notify you if this changes in the future.
A Simplicity Cremation is available everywhere in mainland Great Britain, (this excludes Northern Ireland, Scottish Isles, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands) through our nationwide network of offices and crematoriums.
With us, absolutely not. A Simplicity Cremation does not mean sub-standard care. From the moment the deceased is collected to when the ashes are returned or scattered, every step of the process is carried out with dedication, expertise and compassion.
No, once we have taken someone into our care, the direct nature of the service means that there is no opportunity for viewing.
No, because the service is managed directly there won’t be a traditional funeral procession and the deceased will arrive at the crematorium at a time chosen by us.
No, we are only able to provide this service by using certain days and time slots with the crematorium, when they are less busy.
No, because of the nature of this service we can only use certain crematoria and use less busy time slots.
No, a direct cremation service does not allow for mourners to attend or be present at the time.
We will only ever cremate one person in the cremator at a time and the ashes will only be of that individual.
Yes. Simplicity Cremations, (as a trading style of Dignity Funerals Limited) is a member of the National Association of Funeral Directors, the industry body that its members set the highest standards of customer care in the through a robust Code of Practice, Code of Professional Standards and independent arbitration service.
The ashes will be returned to you in a simple urn or we can respectfully scatter the ashes on your behalf in garden of remembrance.
Yes. The ashes will be returned to you after the cremation, giving you the flexibility to arrange a personal and fitting tribute to the deceased just how you want it to be, at a time and place of your choosing.
