12/03/2026
PERMISSION GIVEN TO SHARE THIS.
On the day my mum passed away, I called Pure Cremation, as she had paid for a ‘funeral plan’ with them. I had assumed this was an insurance-style plan to cover funeral costs. I was shocked to learn, mid call, that not only would there be no funeral for my mum, but that once she was collected she would be transported to the other side of the country, held until she could be taken to one of only two crematoria, and that we would be informed of the date of her cremation but not allowed to attend. This left us devastated as family.
I understand that some people genuinely want as little fuss as possible, and if they choose this service with full knowledge of the process, that is absolutely their right. But my mum was not that person. She talked openly about the music she wanted at her funeral and always held traditional views when it came to honouring loved ones. I do not believe she fully understood what she was signing up for, nor that what happened on the day she died reflected her wishes in any way.
The handling of her body was also deeply distressing. The two men who arrived to collect her bumped her down the stairs in their rush to get out of my mum’s home and into their ‘ambulance.’
I lodged a formal complaint with Pure Cremation last week, but I am yet to receive a response. I explained what had happened and raised my concerns that they had sold this plan to my mum at a vulnerable time in her life. Much more needs to be done to ensure customers - and their families - are fully informed about what this ‘service’ entails. It is not a funeral service. It is, in reality, a body disposal service with a glossy website. They use all the right language (the word ‘dignity’ features heavily in their spiel), but the reality is that my mum has been stored in a cold unit on an industrial estate for a week.
She will be coming home this week and will have the service she deserves - and, most importantly, the one she would have wanted.
This company is known for its hard sell and certainly in my mum’s case it would appear that they have leaned on fears of being a burden or causing ‘hassle’ for family. A funeral is not a hassle or a ‘faff,’ as one of their call centre staff described it. It is a vital part of the grieving process.
If the aim is to help your loved ones with costs, there are plenty of insurance options and local funeral directors who can do that - often at a lower cost. For reference, the £1,700 my mum paid will remain with Pure Cremation, as they do not offer refunds, even though the only service they provided was transporting her on a day when we were too shocked and grief stricken to intervene.
Thank you to an independent funeral director for their compassion and professionalism. Today we got to have the conversations that should have been had last week, the difference between the two services was stark. We will update friends and family with details of my mum’s service shortly. We will also be taking this matter up with the National Association of Funeral Directors and I have written to my MP. Please feel free to share as I would hate anybody else to have to go through the distress that this whole experience has caused us as a family. Thank you.
