Complaints process

We investigate all complaints concerning the operation of our digital fundraising platform that we operate on behalf of Reach plc and Funeral-Notices. This platform receives credit and debit card donations placed via obituary notices published on the website www.funeral-notices.co.uk. At the end of the 5 week collection process, the collections are then paid to the charity(s) or organisations that the deceased’s family have chosen to collect in memory for.

What we can investigate

We can investigate any element of the process, once the obituary notice has been placed by either the funeral director undertaking the funeral of the deceased or a member of the family who can also place the notice. The process in detail includes:

  • Input and payment of the donation made in memory via funeral-notices website and payment of the donation via our embedded platform.
  • The email acknowledgement of the donation.
  • Any refund requested for a donation made in error or wrong value.
  • The payment of the collection to the charity of organisation when the collection is closed 5 weeks after the notice placement.

Time limits

Complaints should be made to us within a month of the issue becoming apparent.

We will consider complaints made outside of this timeframe, however, if more than two months have passed since the matter complained about it may not be possible for us to investigate effectively.

Who can complain?

Our service is free and can be used by anyone who believes they have been affected by our service. 

If anyone is not able to make a complaint themselves, they can ask someone to make the complaint to us on their behalf. We will ask the person making the complaint to provide us with adequate consent from the person affected before proceeding.

If an individual faces difficulties pursuing their complaint because of a disability, we will make reasonable adjustments to accommodate their needs.

We understand that in some cases complainants may contact us who are distressed and need support. If complainants are abusive or unreasonable, we may restrict our contact with the complainant. In some cases, unreasonable behaviour may mean we are unable to proceed with our consideration of the complaint.

How to complain

When making a complaint we need the complainant to provide us in writing via email or letter and include the following:

  • the name of the deceased person the obituary notice covers;
  • when the incident giving rise to the complaint took place;
  • a brief summary of what happened;
  • their name and how they would like to be contacted;
  • copies of any email’s or documents or screen grabs that may have given rise to or support the complaint;
  • any other evidence the complainant considers supports the complaint; 

We will not disclose a complainant’s identity to anyone without their prior consent. 

How we deal with complaints

Acknowledgment

We aim to acknowledge all new complaints within one working day of receipt.

Investigation

If we investigate, we will share the scope of our investigation with Reach plc the owners of funeral-notices. 

We will also seek any necessary evidence involved. We will usually ask for any evidence to be provided within a week of the request.

Once we have reached a provisional conclusion, if we identify a breach of the process, we will share a draft decision with the complainant and allow two weeks for comment.

We will consider any comments provided by the parties to the complaint before finalising our decision.

If we have identified any failing, we may make recommendations for improvement to the system concerned. 

We will set out in our final decision the timescales within which we expect correct the fault or breach. 

Recommendations may include:

  • an apology for the complainant;
  • further training and/or action taken to learn from the breach;
  • Change of process

In all cases, we will send a copy of our final decision to other relevant organisations such as the Reach plc and or the Fundraising Regulator.

We aim to complete investigations within 6 weeks of receiving the complaint.

Investigation summaries 

Investigation summaries will include:

  • The details of the complaint;
  • A thorough description of what happened;
  • the decision that was reached;
  • details of any recommendations that we made; and
  • the outcome of our investigation.

They will not include the details of those who have made complaints. 

All parties to a complaint will be provided with a copy of the investigation summary intended for publication at the point at which we issue our final investigation decision, and will have two weeks to raise any concerns or comments with us.

We will not disclose additional information about the cases we have investigated to third parties, except where this is in line established  practice or is required by law. 

Investigation summaries will stay on our website for two years, after which they will be removed and only available on request.

External review

Our decisions are final and there is no process of appeal. However, parties to the complaint may request an external review if they can show that one or more of the following criteria are met:

  • where we have refused to reopen an investigation in response to new evidence;
  • where there was a material defect in the process by which our decision was made; and/or
  • where it is alleged that our decision is manifestly unreasonable and not one we could sensibly have made having regard to all the relevant facts.

Requests should be in writing and outline the reasons for the review request referring to which of the criteria are relevant. The request should also provide any additional evidence being relied upon.

The request for a review must be made within four weeks of our decision. However, we will consider requests outside of this time limit in exceptional circumstances.