NAFD consults on increase in Parochial Fees from 2011

The National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) is delighted to report that, following consultation with its representatives regarding Parochial Fees, the General Synod of the Church of England has approved a draft order prescribing a general increase of just 1.5% for 2011.

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the fee for a funeral service will be £102 from 1 January 2011. This is up from £99 – the level at which the fee has remained since January 2009.

The amount of the increase is important because in addition to its impact on the overall charges payable by bereaved families and on funeral directors’ cash flow, it has a potential impact on funeral firms that have sold pre-need funeral packages which include disbursements.

The NAFD points out that the proposed fees actually show an increase of 3% and this is because there has been a rounding up and or down during the last few years so that the figures charged make sense. There is another anomaly in that the Council has decided retired clergy should receive two thirds of the incumbent’s fee, so the final figure has to be divisible by three.

“In recent years NAFD Past Presidents Nigel Lymn Rose and Graham Lymn have kept in close contact with the Archbishops Council to negotiate the annual increase that should be applied for the purposes of the Parochial Fees,” says NAFD chief executive officer Alan Slater.

“This minimal increase is another example of how the Association is working on behalf of members to look after their interests and those of the bereaved families they support.”