Question 24589 — death and death

Summary

Ms. Annie Chapelier draws the attention of the Minister of the Economy and Finance to the practices of funeral professionals. Indeed, the consumer association UFC Que Choisir made public a field survey, over the period from March 23 to April 6, 2019 in 72 departments and with 664 funeral directors' shops, damning the pricing and commercial offers made by funeral directors. The survey reveals a surge in funeral prices with an increase of 14% for burials and 10% for cremations. Added to this are large differences in prices from one company to another, from one department to another. The national average stands at 3,851 euros compared to 3,350 euros in 2014. By a law of 1993, the municipal monopoly of the funeral service was ended, thus making it possible to choose the company in charge of funerals. However, this has resulted in a lack of transparency in this particular sector due to the vulnerability of consumers, informed in too short a time and confronted with both a painful process and different prices and commercial practices. In addition, the decree of January 11, 1999 relating to information on the prices of funeral services, requires companies to update their prices provision, to clearly indicate the obligatory or optional nature of each service and to provide a free, detailed written estimate. In reality, this estimate must correspond to a model defined by the decree of August 23, 2010, which is not respected in 65% of the cases identified during the investigation. Finally, in practice, and as this survey indicates, funeral directors respond by emphasizing the distinction between current services and optional services to which must be added a diversity of ranges, which makes comparison among various professionals almost impossible. Consequently, she asks him what the Government's intentions are to fight against these abuses and these observed inequalities which affect the French in these moments of vulnerability.

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