Funeral Homes Will No Longer Be Able to Force Bereaved Families to Sell Wreaths for 1,000 Won

▲ Funeral hall (File Photo)

Funeral homes will no longer be able to dispose of floral wreaths arbitrarily without the consent of the bereaved families.

In addition, uncooking outside food such as fruit and beverages will be allowed to be brought in, and prior explanation of funeral expenses will become mandatory.

The Fair Trade Commission announced today (the 25th) that it has revised the standard terms and conditions for funeral homes containing these measures.

Previously, consumer complaints had been raised as some funeral homes restricted bereaved families from disposing of wreaths sent by mourners, instead selling them to wreath collection and reuse companies or uniformly restricting outside food.

In fact, complaints were filed through the e-People portal stating that a funeral home demanded wreaths be sold for 1,000 won or threatened disadvantages when the bereaved family tried to dispose of the wreaths themselves.

There was also a complaint where a funeral home quoted an estimated cost of up to 10 million won, taking advantage of the fact that bereaved families have no choice but to accept unexpected additional costs, but ultimately charged 16 million won.

With this revision, the FTC made it clear that wreaths sent by mourners belong to the bereaved family.

The revision supplements the previous standard terms, which lacked clear regulations regarding the ownership and disposal methods of wreaths.

Accordingly, funeral homes must now consult with the bereaved family in advance before disposing of any wreaths.

Meanwhile, while the previous standard terms had no separate regulations regarding bringing in outside food, the revised terms allow uncooked outside food such as fruit, beverages, and alcohol to be brought into funeral halls.

To prevent hygiene accidents such as food poisoning, outside-cooked foods such as rice, soup, pancakes, side dishes, and rice cakes will be restricted from being brought in as a general rule.

However, even for outside-cooked food, exceptions will be made if the business owner and the user agree in advance.

Furthermore, the standard terms specify the components of funeral service usage fees, including facility rental fees, funeral-related commissions, funeral supply costs, and cleaning and management fees, and stipulate that funeral home operators must explain these to consumers before signing a contract.

The use of standard terms and conditions is not legally mandatory.

However, as they were prepared by comprehensively considering the opinions of funeral home business associations, related ministries, and consumer organizations, the FTC expects that funeral operators will actively adopt these standard terms in the future.

An FTC official stated, "Disputes between business operators and consumers will be reduced, and a desirable trading order will be established."

(File Photo: Yonhap News)

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