Everestfuneral.com Phone Calls to Members

From the NFDA Bulletin on November 15, 2006:

Everestfuneral.com: What You Need to Know If You're Contacted

NFDA has been contacted by funeral directors from New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Ohio regarding Everestfuneral.com. The company has been contacting funeral homes asking about prices and obtaining price lists.

According to NFDA's Legal Counsel Scott Gilligan, Everestfuneral.com advertises itself as a funeral planning and concierge service. Consumers can enroll with Everest by paying either an annual fee or a one-time fee of $495. They are then able to fill out a sheet detailing their final wishes. When the person dies, the family contacts Everest and they refer the family to a funeral home. Everest will also send the written wish list to the funeral home.

You may wonder what your responsibility is under the FTC Funeral Rule should Everest contact your firm. Gilligan advises the following:

• Mailing or Faxing of Price List: The Funeral Rule only requires funeral directors to distribute a General Price List if there is a face-to-face discussion involving funeral prices, arrangements, services or goods. Therefore, funeral homes are not required to mail or fax a General Price List to Everest or anyone else who calls and requests to be mailed a price list. It is up to the funeral home whether they want to honor that request, but they are not required to do so by the Funeral Rule.
• Disclosing Prices Over the Phone: The Funeral Rule does require funeral directors to answer telephone inquiries regarding funeral services and prices. Therefore, if Everest telephones a funeral home and asks specific questions regarding how much various goods and services cost, the funeral home must provide that information over the telephone. This requirement of the Funeral Rule applies even though Everest is not a consumer. The Rule requires funeral homes to provide this information to anyone who telephones regardless of whether they are a consumer or not.

Should you have any questions, please call your personal Member Services Representative at 800-228-6332. (The Member Services Rep for Wisconsin is Kim Klotz)