Funeral

[barry1010]

Bizarre question driven by curiosity. Two people house share but are not related or partners. One becomes ill, dies at home and doesn't need a post mortem. GP attends and signs relevant documents confirming death.
He has no family. The other does not want the cost or responsibility of arranging the funeral. If the dead man has no assets the council will pay but the body is still in the house. How does it get removed and where to? As far as I know if the surviving housemate calls an undertaker to remove the body he will be responsible for the funeral. Anyone know?

[ToraToraTora]

just call the plod initially and they'll arrange the body removal to the local morgue. In fact that goes anyway ragardless. No one actually has to pay for a funeral ever, you just do not claim the body. The authorities and underatakers use emotional blackmail usually but in reality they can't force anyone to pay for anything.

[ToraToraTora]

sorry I should say call plod not because its their responsibility but because they'll want to verify no foul play involved etc.

[bobbinwales]

Is this theoretical or actual. If real , wouldnt the doctor of been able to advise?

[bobbinwales]

Someone needs to know whether the person had had a covid test in last 28 days and needed to be added to the statistics, Dont know who sorts that. Think we'd ring ambulance rather than police

[barry1010]

It certainly isn't real. The police wouldn't get involved if the death has been signed off as natural causes.
If it were, say, a husband that died in the same circumstances the wife would be left to call an undertaker to remove the body. Forget Covid for this scenario

[ToraToraTora]

ok then I guess you should call the local council morgue to get them to remove the body.

[ToraToraTora]

its says here to call a funeral director but I'd make sure you don't agree or sign anything:
https://www.bereavementadvice.org/topics/what-to-do-when-someone-dies/at-home-or-in-a-care-home/

[barry1010]

Ha ha. A funeral director would usually refuse unless somebody agreed to pay for the removal and storage at the very least.
It's a conundrum and it must happen.

I got thinking about this because of the adverts for direct to crem funerals. Really, if that is what you are going to settle for you might as well get the council to do it for nothing

[ToraToraTora]

surely someone has to remove the body, I mean what's the alternative? Lob it on the pavement outside? Hopefully someone with experience or a clue about this will be along soon.

[Jonathan-Joe]

//... you might as well get the council to do it for nothing //
The council can claim expenses from the estate of the deceased.

[woofgang]

Not quite the same, but when my husband died at home and the GP came out, she also made sure that I knew what to do next. In your circs, I'd phone the council.

[ToraToraTora]

woofgang, who removed the body? did you have to take responsibility for the costs first?

[woofgang]

In my case I phoned the funeral director. What I am saying is that as well as certifying death, the GP made sure that I knew what to do so in the OP's circs, the survivor could ask the GP who certified the death what they should do. Its my experience from working in the NHS, that councils have at least one contract/arrangement with a local undertaker and the process is pretty quick once they are made aware...but of course we were a hospital and no possibility of emotional pressure.

[THECORBYLOON]

If there's no next-of-kin, local councils have a responsibility to arrange a public health funeral and they are likely to have an arrangement with specific funeral directors.

[ToraToraTora]

great so in the scenario of the OP how ,would one avoid being slapped with the costs in the first instance? Apparently undertakers wont even collect the body without some sort of commitment to pay.

[THECORBYLOON]

I would contact the local council and take their advice.

[Barmaid]

Local authority in the first instance. They have public health duties one of which is ensuring the disposal of human remains.

[barry1010]

So the housemate would have to phone the council. If my hypothetical man had died on the street or in hospital he would have been taken to the morgue. If nobody claimed him the council would eventually take responsibility when they had exhausted every means of tracing next of kin and the dead man's assets. This can take ages and they are very reluctant to take on the cost - they will try and guilt trip any remote next of kin in to paying for the funeral (rightly so, really - why should you and I pay for a stranger's funeral if his next of kin can pay but won't?).

I would be very interested to hear a real experience of somebody who has been in this situation. How to persuade a funeral director to take a body when he isn't been paid by the person asking (typically £200 to remove a body plus storage by the day but more if they don't get the funeral) or how to persuade the council to take a body they don't want.

Another question related. A council funeral (pauper's funeral) has to include a short service either at the crematorium or graveside where anyone who wishes to can attend. These 'direct to crem' funeral providers do not allow for this - it keep the costs down - and the crematoria can be hundreds of miles away from the home of the dead person. Will the council be allowed to save money by scrapping the service?

[New Judge]

Yes it's one of the few things which local authorities seem to deal with in the first instance (instead of their usual stock-in-trade response of "Sorry, the council can't help you with that. What is it you want?")

I had experience of this when a neighbour of an elderly relative died in just those circumstances (no relatives, no friends, no funds). The LA took control of the situation immediately and briefed a funeral director to collect the deceased and a funeral was arranged, paid for by the LA.

[New Judge]

//I would be very interested to hear a real experience of somebody who has been in this situation. How to persuade a funeral director to take a body when he isn't been paid by the person asking (typically £200 to remove a body plus storage by the day but more if they don't get the funeral) or how to persuade the council to take a body they don't want.//

I didn't have to do any of that. I simply contacted the LA and they did all the persuading.