If your business sells funeral goods and services, you may know that the Federal Trade Commission Funeral Rule requires funeral providers to provide consumers with detailed price lists. To help ensure you know what specific information needs to be included in your listing and when it must be provided, the FTC has released a new tip sheet, Funeral Rule Price List Essentials.
The funeral rules require three price lists: the general price list (GPL), the coffin price list (CPL) and the external burial container price list (OBCPL). If you are a funeral service provider, check your price list to make sure it contains the required disclosures and information. You can follow the instructions in the tip sheet and the FTC’s Guide to Complying with Funeral Rules.
Next, make plenty of copies of your price list so you and your employees can share the information at any time.
Then, discuss with your staff when to provide or display price lists and information to people. The tip sheet reviews when you need to provide information over the phone and in person. Here are the basics of each contact type:
- When you meet in person. Please provide a copy of the GPL every time you begin a discussion about the types of funeral items or services you provide or their prices. Show the CPL when asked or when you talk about caskets, replacement containers or their prices, and before showing items or pictures of items. Show the OBCPL when someone asks or when you talk about a tombstone or tomb or its price, and before showing an item or a picture of an item.
- When someone calls. Provide information from the GPL, CPL, and OBCPL and other easily accessible information to answer questions about products and pricing appropriately.
One final tip: Consider including CPL and OBCPL information in the GPL with appropriate titles so that you can get into the habit of providing all detailed pricing information at the beginning of scheduling discussions. Or when you first take on a new client, make these three lists all at once.
For additional resources, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s special page for members of the funeral industry.
