Does your UK funeral home website meet the CMA price rules in 2026?

What is the CMA Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021?

After a two-and-a-half-year investigation into the funeral sector, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) introduced a legally binding Order under the Enterprise Act 2002. It was published on 16 June 2021, with full compliance required from 16 September 2021. The aim is simple: make it easy for a family arranging a funeral, often in distress and under time pressure, to compare funeral directors on a like-for-like basis before they commit.

Crucially, the Order applies to all funeral businesses in Great Britain, not only members of the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) or SAIF, and not only the large groups. An independent, single-branch, family-run funeral home is covered in exactly the same way as Dignity or Co-op Funeralcare.

What has to be on your website specifically?

The headline requirement is the Standardised Price List (SPL). Where a funeral business has a website, the SPL must be published online, set out using the exact terms and structure the CMA defines, so that families can compare firms on the same basis. The Order is specific about placement: the SPL must sit on a page no more than one click away from the homepage, and the link to it must be prominently labelled on the homepage so it is clear what it leads to.

In plain terms, a buried PDF, a price page hidden three menus deep, or a link that only appears on desktop does not meet the rule. The path from homepage to prices has to be obvious on a phone, which is where most families will look first.

• Standardised Price List: your prices for an attended funeral and an unattended funeral, set out in the CMA's required structure.
• Additional Options Price List: the extras a family may choose, such as an alternative coffin, additional limousines, embalming, or a service outside normal hours.
• Disclosure of Interests: clear disclosure of any relevant business interests, for example whether the firm is part of a larger group or has interests in a crematorium, price-comparison site, or related business.
• Required crematorium information and your payment terms, also published online.

What goes into the Standardised Price List?

The SPL is built around two defined funeral types so families can compare like with like. An attended funeral is one where family and friends attend a ceremony or service at the time of the burial or cremation. An unattended funeral (often called a direct cremation or direct burial) is one with no service at the time.

For the attended funeral, the Order requires the price to be broken down into a defined set of items and then totalled, so the headline figure cannot hide anything. In practice this covers collecting and caring for the person who has died, a coffin, viewing where requested, a hearse to a local cemetery or crematorium, and the funeral director's arrangements and administration. Third-party costs such as the cremation or burial fee are shown separately as fees rather than buried inside the headline price. Use the exact wording and order set out in the Order so your list stays comparable and compliant.

Why this matters most for independents

Roughly 70% of UK funeral provision is delivered by independent firms, with the two largest groups, Dignity and Co-op Funeralcare, accounting for around 30% of the market (CMA funerals market review, As of August 2025). The NAFD represents more than 4,100 funeral homes and SAIF represents over 1,000 mainly small and medium independents. That is a large number of small businesses, many of them long-established and trusted locally, competing against well-resourced national brands that have polished, compliant websites.

An independent funeral director's reputation is usually strongest exactly where it matters: the local community. But if the website is outdated, hard to use on a phone, or missing the CMA price information, that local trust does not transfer online. A family comparing three local firms at 11pm will quietly discount the one whose prices they cannot find.

A quick self-check for your funeral home website

• From your homepage on a phone, can you reach the Standardised Price List in one tap, with a clearly labelled link?
• Does the SPL use the CMA's required structure, with the attended and unattended funeral prices and the fees shown separately?
• Are the Additional Options Price List and the Disclosure of Interests both published and reachable online?
• Do the online prices match the price list displayed in your branch and branch window?
• Is the price information current, or does it still show last year's figures or an old PDF date?
• Beyond prices, can a family quickly find your address, phone number, out-of-hours contact, and how to start an arrangement?
• Does the site work cleanly on a small screen, with tappable phone links and no broken forms or dead pages?

What if you do not have a website?

The Order still reaches you. GOV.UK guidance is clear that a funeral director without a website, but which markets itself on other online channels or platforms, must display the Standardised Price List clearly and prominently on those channels. In other words, relying on a Facebook page or a directory listing does not remove the obligation, and those channels are far harder to keep compliant and on-brand than a simple website you control.

For many independents, a small, well-structured website is actually the easiest way to stay compliant: one clearly labelled prices page, kept current, that you can update the moment fees change.

How LESTO handles this for UK funeral directors

LESTO builds done-for-you websites for local businesses that need a clear, current site without running a website project. The first draft is free and arrives in 24 hours. If it fits, the website is £99/month ex VAT, with no setup fee, monthly cancellation, and changes handled by WhatsApp or email.

For a funeral home, that model fits the real-world need: a prominently linked prices page that satisfies the CMA placement rule, room for your Additional Options Price List and Disclosure of Interests, clear out-of-hours contact, and the ability to update figures the day a crematorium or cremation fee changes, by sending one message rather than waiting weeks for a developer. LESTO builds the site; you stay responsible for the accuracy of your own price information.

The takeaway

If you run a UK funeral home, your website is now part of how you comply with the law and how grieving families judge you before they call. Make the Standardised Price List easy to find from the homepage, publish your Additional Options Price List and Disclosure of Interests, keep the figures current, and make sure the whole thing works on a phone. Get those basics right and your website does two jobs at once: it keeps you on the right side of the CMA Order, and it earns the local family's trust at the moment they are choosing.