OUR MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Hyde-Chambers Funeral Home is a member of the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) and are required to abide by a strict code of practice. The code requires that you be given a full written estimate of what the funeral will cost.

The funeral account is sent to the person responsible for the arrangements or the solicitor, about a week after the funeral. We do ask that a deposit amounting to 50% of the total funeral cost be paid at least 72 hours prior to the funeral. This is to cover 3rd party disbursements such as crematorium fees, doctors’ fees and flowers. The account can be paid for by Bacs, cash, cheque, debit or credit card.

In each limousine, there is room for six people in the rear compartment.

On the day of the funeral, the funeral director is there to help and guide you, your family and friends. If you are unsure of anything, please ask the funeral director.

Yes, we will be pleased to arrange for notice(s) to be placed in either your local paper or the national papers such as the Times or the Daily Telegraph.

Yes, of course. We will discuss this with you. And our team will be there to support and guide anyone wishing to carry on the day.

Yes, our funeral home is open and available to you at any time. If you wish to visit our private chapel, please ring and inform us when you would like to come, and we will be pleased to make an appointment for you.

Yes, we can bring the deceased home, either on the evening before the service or on the morning of the service, so the deceased can leave from home.

Yes, if you have a special request or would like a piece of music playing either as you walk into or out of the crematorium chapel, please let the funeral director know as soon as possible. Most crematoriums now have a music system called Obitus, which allows the funeral director to pre-book pretty much any type or piece of music requested. We are also able to play music at a graveside burial service or an interment of ashes using our tablet and speaker.

Yes, if donations to charity are requested in lieu of flowers, we will accept and list donations on your behalf and forward them to the charity of your choice. Everything is documented, and you will receive a letter confirming the final total and acknowledgement from the charity.

No. There are strict laws regarding cremation. Nothing may be removed from the coffin before cremation.

Yes. The identity of the coffin name plate is checked by the crematorium staff before it is placed in the cremation chamber. This only holds one coffin or casket at a time, and again there are strict regulations that must be abided by.

Yes. Once the cremation has taken place, the cremated remains are removed and left to cool before being placed in an urn. This urn is clearly identified as to whose remains they are. You can either collect these from the crematorium if you wish, or we can do this for you.

You can have them placed in the Garden of Remembrance at the crematorium; you can, if you wish, be in attendance when they are strewn. You may wish to purchase a grave just for interring the cremated remains. This allows you to have a headstone and have other members of the family buried there in the future. You may keep them at home in a special urn or memorial. You may scatter them in a special place. The remains may be buried in an existing family grave. If you would like to discuss any of the above alternatives, please contact us and we will be pleased to help you.

Yes, we can advise on and arrange the repatriation of remains both to and from abroad.

We always place attendance cards on the pews/seats at the service, allowing guests to fill in their details. We will collect these at the end and hand them to you.

If you require catering after the funeral, you can make your own arrangements, or we can arrange for a caterer to provide a buffet in your own home. We also have a list of venues locally that provide wake packages.

If the grave is 'earth' rather than 'bricked', then the grave will take six months or more before the ground is firm enough to place the weight of a headstone. If the grave is 'bricked' inside, then it does not take as long. For further advice, please contact your Funeral Director, who will be pleased to advise you.

When a funeral is a cremation, two doctors MUST attend to confirm the cause of death. The first doctor must be the doctor who attended the deceased during his/her last illness. The duty of the second doctor is essentially one of confirmation. This doctor must not be related to the first doctor either through family or practice.

For this service, each doctor makes a separate charge, which we, the funeral directors, usually pay on behalf of the deceased's family. (Currently doctor's fees [April 2018] are £164.00 in total). It should be noted that where a death is reported to the coroner and either a post mortem or inquest is requested, then the procedure is different and the need for two doctors is removed.

The embalming process (sometimes called a hygienic treatment) helps preserve the body and reduces the harshness of any effects an illness or accident may have had on the person’s physical appearance.

Ian, our funeral director, is a professional embalmer and recommends that the deceased be embalmed if family and friends should wish to see them in the chapel of rest. Please ask us to explain this to you if you are at all unsure; we will try and answer all questions as honestly as we can.