Delaware received a failing grade in a new report from the Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) and the Consumer Federation of America.
According to the report, most state funeral service regulators provide poor or no information to consumers about their funeral rights, how to file complaints, how to learn about disciplinary actions, and how to best shop for funeral services. 
According to the report, states that provide a high level of services are Arizona, California, Kansas, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and Virginia.
“State regulatory agencies with good consumer information fulfill their state mandates to serve the interests of the public,” said Joshua Slocum, FCA’s Executive Director. “Consumer information can make a huge difference in the lives of the bereaved who must often quickly choose among funeral services where costs can range from under $2,000 to more than $20,000, and who sometimes have legitimate complaints about these services,” he added.
Researchers from FCA and CFA graded state regulatory agencies using six criteria that included the content of information and its presentation – most importantly, whether a link to consumer information was prominently featured on the home page of the agency’s website. For example, the content included a link to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) consumer guide, “Shopping for Funeral Services.”
Delaware operates a Board of Funeral Services under the Department of State that handles licensing and related issues but does not provide consumer information, based on an examination of its web page.
Delaware does post names of licensed individuals online and reports whether they have been subject to disciplinary proceedings.
Brian J. Clymer, president of the Delaware State Funeral Directors Association, issued the following:
“The Delaware State Funeral Directors Association and our member firms have always and will continue to strive to provide the best possible service to meet the needs our client families. We provide for the consumers best interest by closely working with the State of Delaware Division of Professional Regulation Board of Funeral Services to meet all state and federal regulations. With continuing education programs provided by the DSFDA and the NFDA to our members regarding federal and state regulations, we continue our strong commitment to providing the best practices for the funeral consumer. Most importantly by reaching out to our communities with educational seminars and pre-planning consultations we can help the consumer make the best-informed choices creating meaningful services for themselves and for their family.”
The two groups that authored the newly released report offer information to consumers through a pamphlet, “Planning a Funeral: 5 Key Tips”
The authors of the report said that due to the failure of many state regulatory agencies, the FTC has had to establish standards of conduct for the industry.
The FTC’s Funeral Rule requires funeral homes to give consumers a General Price List of services during in-person arrangements conferences. The federal agency is now considering whether to update and modernize the Funeral Rule, including requiring funeral homes to post their price lists on their websites.
“Posted price lists would greatly assist bereaved consumers who now must physically visit funeral homes to obtain the price lists,” noted Stephen Brobeck, a CFA senior fellow. “An updated Funeral Rule, coupled with improved consumer information from state agencies, would significantly benefit consumers who face costly choices at a time when many must cope emotionally with the death of a loved one.”
