Terms and Conditions
Terms and Conditions last updated: 03 September 2021
Our Business Terms and Conditions
1. Definitions
Cancellation Notice: means a notice served to cease work in relation to the contract agreed, provided that such notice is served within the 14-day cooling-off period, as detailed in the Terms and Conditions;
Ceremony Date: means the date of the Direct Cremation Company: C.P.J. Field & Co. Limited whose registered office is Rampion House, Marchants Way, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 8QY (Company number: 2998017); Trading as any of the following names: CPJ Field; Homeland International, Liberty Cremations, Liberty Funerals, and Creative Stone
Cremation Notice: means a proforma notice in regard to cremation arrangements provided in paragraph 20 below;
DWP: means the Department of Work and Pensions; Estimate and Confirmation Notice: means the proforma providing written confirmation of the Estimate in the form annexed to these terms and conditions;
Final Account: means the invoice of all fees and disbursements incurred when providing Services to you;
Instructions: means instructing the Company to make specific arrangements;
NAFD: means the National Association of Funeral Directors;
Notice of Right to Cancel this Agreement within the Cooling Off Period of 14 Days: as Cancellation Notice above;
Nominated Third Party: means a third party nominated by you and may include such persons or organisations as a solicitor, accountant, bank, the DWP or whoever else may be administrating the deceased person’s estate; and
Services: means any of the services we have agreed to provide to you, including, Direct Cremation
2. Estimate
2.1. The Company shall provide to you a written confirmation of the Instructions and a written itemised estimate of all funeral charges, and all disbursements known at the time of making the Instructions (the “Estimate”).
2.2. You will provide written acceptance of the Estimate and the Instructions using the annexed Estimate and Confirmation Notice which will complete the contractual agreement.
2.3. In circumstances where disbursements may not be known in advance of the Ceremony Date, the Company shall give a best estimate of such disbursements on the Estimate and Confirmation Notice. The actual amount of such disbursements shall be detailed and shown in the Final Account.
2.4. If you amend the Instructions, the Company shall endeavour to inform you of any possible changes to the Estimate and obtain your written consent to any variation to the Estimate.
2.5. We endeavour to provide a prompt and exceptional level of service for you. However, there may be circumstances, which are beyond our control, where we are unable to fulfil our obligations to you on the Ceremony Date. In the event that the Services requested do not take place on the Ceremony Date specified to you:
2.5.1. We will contact you in advance and advise you of alternative arrangements;
2.5.2. The Company shall repay to you within thirty days of the Ceremony Date, any advance payment, deposit or pre-payment made by you less any disbursements and fees, if the alternative arrangements are not to your satisfaction.
2.6. If you choose any type of cremation you will need to complete a Cremation Notice in the form provided to you.
2.7. These terms and conditions are supplemental to our Estimate
3. Estimate and Confirmation Notice
3.1. An Estimate and Confirmation Notice is annexed to these terms and conditions.
3.2. The Estimate and Confirmation Notice provides you with:
3.2.1. Details of the Services we are providing, including the date and time, place of assembly,
service, place of committal and any additional services in respect of such things as arrangements for
the cremated remains; and
3.2.2. An estimate of the costs of the funeral.
3.3. When signed by you, it indicates an approval of the arrangements and costs and constitutes a
formal contractual agreement.
4. Responsibility for Payment
4.1. By providing the Company with Instructions you are solely responsible for the payment, in full, without set off or deduction, of all fees and disbursements, thereby incurred, to the Company.
4.2. The Company will forward its Final Account to a Nominated Third Party, when so instructed by you.
4.3. You, as our client, will be personally liable for making payment in full of all Company fees and disbursements and simply forwarding the Final Account to another person will not discharge that liability.
4.4. You remain liable to the Company until full payment of the Final Account is received by us.
4.5. You also remain liable for any outstanding balance due to the Company which (in applicable cases) is not discharged by your Nominated Third Party
4.6. At all times it is your responsibility, as our client, to ensure that payment is made within the payment terms detailed below in clause 5 (Payment Terms).
4.7. Where you have received an estimate of the anticipated DWP Social Fund Grant (the “Grant”), on the basis of the information provided by you to the DWP, the Company is not responsible for any difference between the actual and anticipated Grant. If you receive less Grant than you anticipated you remain responsible for the difference
5. Payment Terms
5.1. The Company requires payment for Services to be provided and disbursements in cleared funds not less than twenty-four hours prior to the Cremation Date.
5.2. The Company retains the title to all goods supplied and rights obtained from third parties until such time as it receives payment in full of the Final Account.
5.3. The Company charges a 2% surcharge on the disbursements (but not on the charges for its own services) when payment is made by credit card. This is to cover the Company’s costs of receiving payment on behalf of third parties by credit card.
5.4. The Company will produce the Final Account as soon as reasonably practical before the Cremation Date. The Final Account details all applicable charges for Services provided and disbursements (except those payable by a pre-payment fund) and records any payments already received and any loyalty or affinity discounts. The balance shown is due for immediate payment.
5.5. Where settlement of the Final Account is by funds from a recognised pre-payment funeral plan, arranged in advance of the Cremation Date, any difference between the funeral plan payment and the Final Account is your sole responsibility.
5.6. Where settlement of the Final Account is by an interest free credit agreement, between the Company and a finance house offering interest free credit, the Final Account will be submitted as soon as practicable direct to the finance house for settlement. A copy of the Final Account will also
be sent to you for your records.
5.7. Where settlement of the Final Account has been referred by you to a Nominated Third Party, the Final Account will be sent as soon as practicable to the Nominated Third Party. A copy of the Final Account will be sent to you for your records.
6. Disbursements
6.1. We charge separately for additional expenses that we incur. Disbursements paid for on your behalf will be charged at cost plus VAT (if applicable).
6.2. You authorise the Company to incur such disbursements as it considers necessary to comply with your Instructions.
7. VAT
All fees, charges and disbursements will be subject to VAT (or exempt from VAT) in accordance withVAT regulations.
8. Overdue accounts
8.1. Payment is due in accordance with the Company’s standard payment terms as set out in clause 5 (Payment Terms).
8.2. In the event that these terms are not met and an amount remains outstanding twenty-eight days from the date of the Final Account, the Company will charge interest on a rate of 1.5%, calculated at a daily basis from the date of the Final Account until payment, and compounded on the first day of each month.
9. Termination
9.1. Funeral arrangements can be cancelled, by you, upon giving notice in writing to the Company within seven days of placing the Instructions.
9.2. You agree to settle in full any fees or disbursements the Company has incurred on your behalf.
9.3. For your convenience a Cancellation Notice is annexed to the Estimate and Confirmation Noticeand these terms and conditions.
9.4. The Company may terminate its agreement with you if you fail to honour your obligations under these terms and conditions.
9.5. All accrued rights and liabilities under these terms and conditions shall survive and remain in force and effect notwithstanding termination.
10. Bereavement Register
The Company may pass the details of the deceased to the Bereavement Register to remove the name and address from certain databases and mailing files to assist in preventing unsolicited direct mail and identity fraud. Please advise the Company in writing if you do not require us to notify the Bereavement Register.
11. Confidentiality
The Company will keep information that you supply to us in strict confidence unless you instruct us to disclose that information or it is already in the public domain or if we, in good faith, consider disclosure to be required by law or the rules of any government, regulatory or professional body.
12. Funds held on Account
If we hold money on your behalf or where any other amount is due to you, we reserve the right to set off this money towards payment or part payment of any monies due to us. We will advise you if this is being done.
13. Authorisations
Our services are subject to the rules and regulations of the NAFD in force from time to time.
14. Data Protection
We will process your personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy, a copy of which is available
at www.cpjfield.co.uk/privacypolicy.
15. Terms
These terms and conditions and the Estimate compromise all terms of the agreement between the Company and you and they shall govern the agreement to the entire exclusion of all other terms and conditions save where otherwise expressly agreed in writing by the parties. These conditions do not release any party from liability of any fraudulent act.
16. Indemnity
16.1. You will indemnify the Company and each of our connected persons from any losses, claims, demands, damages, costs, charges, expenses or liabilities (or actions, investigations or other proceedings in respect thereof) (a “Claim”) which we (or any such connected person) may suffer or incur or which may be made against us or such connected person relating to or arising directly or indirectly out of or in connection with the Instructions or following any breach by you of any of your obligations under these terms and conditions.
16.2. This means that you are liable to us for losses we incur because you do not comply with these terms and conditions. For example, we will charge you an administration fee where we receive a cheque from you which is subsequently not honoured or if we write to remind you that an account is overdue. If we instruct debt collection agents, we may also recover from you the fees we incur. Further details regarding these fees are available on request. We may claim those losses from you at any time and, if we have to take legal action, we will ask the Court to make you pay our legal costs.
16.3. The indemnity in sub clause 16.1 shall not, however, apply to the extent that the relevant Claim resulted primarily from our negligence or default or that of any of the connected persons.
16.4. “connected persons” for the purposes of this clause 16 (Indemnity) shall mean any of our directors, employees or agents.
17. Cooling-Off Period
17.1. The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation, and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 may give you the right to terminate this agreement in the cooling-off period of 14 days.
17.2. Your rights: It is our responsibility to supply you with goods and services that meet your consumer rights. If you have any concerns that we have not met our legal obligations please contact us – our contact details are given above. If you are unclear about your rights or require advice, you can contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0845 404 0506 or www.adviceguide.co.uk
17.3. Cancellation – your rights: You have a right to cancel this contract and further information is given below.
17.4. Your right to cancel: You have a right to cancel this contract without giving any reason within 14 days of entering into this contract with us. However, if the service of this contract has been fully performed, i.e. completed, this contract cannot be cancelled. In order to exercise your right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision by a clear statement (i.e. a telephone call, letter sent by post or email). You are advised to obtain proof that you have informed us. To meet the cancellation deadline, you should let us know that you wish to cancel before the cancellation period has expired. If you want to put this in writing, this can be sent using the details at the bottom of this page, or by email.
17.5 Effects of cancellation: If you cancel this contract, we will reimburse you all that you have paid us, subject to certain possible deductions set out below. To do this, we will need a specific request from you because of the cancellation period. This will mean that you will still have a right to cancel but you will have to pay our costs for the work that we have done up to the point when you inform us of your decision to cancel. We will make the reimbursement without undue delay and not later than 14 days after the cancellation notice has been received. We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise. In any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement.
17.6 In accepting the Terms and Conditions you instruct CPJ Field & Co Ltd to start work on our contract on a date that we have already agreed.
17.7 The Company acknowledges that you have a right to cancel this contract, as described above, within the cancellation period which ends at 14 days after the date on which the Terms and Conditions were accepted. Further, you acknowledge that, following cancellation, you may have to pay certain costs or have some reduction in reimbursement, as above.
18. Valuables
The Company will take all reasonable steps to ensure that jewellery and other valuables received are taken care of, but unless it is due to the Company’s negligence, the Company does not accept responsibility or liability for any act or omission in relation to jewellery or other valuables.
19. Complaints and service
19.1. The Company will comply with the NAFD Code of Practice, whilst the Company remains a member of the NAFD, and the terms of the Funeral Arbitration Service.
19.2. The Company is confident that it will provide a high-quality service in all respects. However, if you have any queries or concerns about the Company’s service you should first take them up with the Company.
19.3. We are committed to provide a good service. It is important you immediately raise any concerns with us.
19.4. If the complaint cannot be resolved then you can refer your complaint to the NAFD Resolve to be dealt with under the NAFD Resolve’s Dispute Resolution Service.
19.5. As a member of the NAFD, the Company is obliged to co-operate with its complaints and disputes procedure and to abide by the decisions of the NAFD Resolve or the NAFD Disciplinary Committee.
19.6. A copy of the Code of Practice will be supplied by the Company upon request or alternatively can be viewed on the NAFD website at www.nafd.org.uk.
20. Right to inspect cremation documentation
20.1. In accepting these terms and conditions, you acknowledge your right to inspect the Medical certificate and Confirmatory medical certificate (Cremation 4 & Cremation 5) as completed by the doctors certifying the cause of death as set out by the Ministry of Justice.
20.2. You acknowledge that the Medical Referee can give advice as to the content of the forms (Cremation 4 & Cremation 5), but may charge a fee for doing so, for which you (and not the Company) accept responsibility for payment. You acknowledge that in exercising your right to inspect the cremation forms, some delay may be caused to the funeral arrangements
21. General
21.1. No variations in these terms can be effective unless in writing, and in the case of the Company, by a director of the Company.
21.2. No failure to exercise or delay in exercising any of our rights shall constitute a waiver.
21.3. In the event that any provision of the Estimate or these terms becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the remainder shall survive unaffected.
21.4. Nothing in these terms or in the Estimate is intended to confer on any third party, other than our respective successors or assigns, any right or remedy.
21.5. Nothing in these Terms restricts or limits our liability for death or personal injury.
21.6. Your continuing instructions will amount to your continuing acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
21.7. Our agreement with you shall be governed by English law and the English Courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction.
CPJ Field & Co Ltd
Rampion House, Marchants Way, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 8QY
Registered in England: 2998017
VAT No: 679 9360 65
01444 230430