The coronavirus pandemic may help push the funeral business into the internet age.
Funeral homes must give a detailed price list to anyone who requests one in person, but they aren’t required to post prices on their websites.
Consumer advocates and members of the public are urging the Federal Trade Commission, which is reviewing its 1984 funeral rule, to make online pricing mandatory, among other changes.
The rule, adopted to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive practices, also requires funeral homes to answer questions about prices over the phone.
“Had it been written in the internet era, online pricing would have been mandated,” said Joshua Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a nonprofit group that promotes price transparency.
The rule is “showing its age” and needs updating to protect “uniquely vulnerable” consumers, an FTC commissioner, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, said in a statement about the review.
An itemized list can help consumers choose services, Slocum said. For example, families often don’t know that they don’t have to hold a formal viewing or can choose a less-expensive coffin bought elsewhere.
Visiting funeral homes for price lists was burdensome even before the coronavirus outbreak, but it has put the need for change in sharp relief, Slocum said.
