This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

An investigation of funeral providers has found a widespread lack of transparency, with high prices, varying costs and some sellers taking days to provide customers with quotes.

A national mystery shop conducted by consumer group Choice found that 14 out of 36 providers did not give customers an estimated cost within 48 hours. And when they did, many gave lump sums, not itemised bills, ranging into the thousands.

Saimi Jeong, an investigative journalist with Choice, said the same service – allowing people to view the body of their loved one – cost $110 at one provider and $1,600 at another, with no explanation for the difference.

Jeong said she frequently encountered “unexplained price differences” and confusing charges.

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“One funeral home quoted $5,600 for a direct cremation in our mystery shop,” she said. “When we looked at the costs, over half of this was made up by an opaque ‘professional service fee’.”

Funeral providers are regulated on a state-by-state basis, with the strictest regulations in Victoria, with New South Wales soon to follow, Jeong said.

The NSW Department of Fair Trading is currently considering new rules that would make it easier for consumers to understand funeral charges. These would include a 48-hour timeframe to provide a price.

In Victoria, providers are currently required to provide a “clear and legible price list”, and must offer the option of a basic funeral service, among other requirements.

But in the Choice mystery shop – which ranged across the entire country – Jeong found many providers did not explain their charges. She said consumers, in such vulnerable situations, could be easily confused.

For one option with just cremation and no service, she said $3,000 still went towards “professional services”.

“A direct cremation with no funeral service cost $5,600. When almost $3,000 of that is going towards a professional service fee, you do wonder where that money is actually going if they don’t break that down further. Especially when there is no funeral.

“All they are organising is transport, storage and the actual cremation. Apart from that you wouldn’t think that would be something that costs $3,000.”

Choice has written to NSW Fair Trading to recommend that providers should also be required to provide prices for specific items.

Of the 36 funeral homes, 20 were owned by Invocare (the largest provider in the Asia-Pacific), 12 were independent, and four were owned by Propel, another funeral company.

“Overall, we had 14 that didn’t provide any written quotes despite being asked for them in 48 hours,” Jeong said. “We had to chase some of them, and in the end that number went down to nine. But still, nine didn’t get back to us.

“Within 48 hours, 15 got back to us with varying levels of itemisation. Eventually that increased to 17. The most striking thing I found was that some grouped multiple items under one category.

“Professional services fee is a very common fee that funeral homes charge. If they do break down costs, usually that is going to be in the thousands of dollars.”