Co-op Funeralcare Reviews 

Dear General Public,

I beg you, in your worst time of grief, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER USE THE CO-OPERATIVE FUNERAL SERVICES, or any variant of them. In my experience, their name is one of the greatest misnomers of all time. Truthfully, they should call themselves UN-CO-OPERATIVE LEGAL/FUNERAL SERVICES!!!!

After a sudden, and unforeseen illness, my Mother died and was buried early in 2026. Despite unequivocally clear instructions to apply for, & settle probate, at the time of writing 24/10/26 - THIS COMPANY HAS NOT EVEN YET APPLIED TO THE COURTS.

I am 100% certain of this because as those reading who have sadly experienced this process before will know a brief summary of how Probate works is this:

1) All assets of a deceased loved one, bought and solely held in their name, must be assessed by the Probate Court, (which assess payable tax, the Will etc), before instructing sale or distribution of those assets.

2) Before an application can be made to the Probate Courts, the original will must be provided. This is generally held by a firm of Solicitors, and released only with the written consent of all executors of the Deceased's Will. Naturally their names and titles MUST be written accurately on the consent form.

The CO-OP, 4 MONTHS AFTER BEING INSTRUCTED, HAVE NOT EVEN REQUESTED A CORRECTLY FORMATTED CONSENT FROM ME AS EXECUTOR.
I.E. THEY HAVE BARELY STARTED A PROCESS WITH CAN EASILY BE COMPLETED WITHIN 3 MONTHS!!!!

AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS!!!

After multiple polite emails & a formal complaint to this firm, I have had no choice but to refer them to the Legal Ombudsman - BECAUSE THEY UTTERLY REFUSE TO DO THE VERY THING FOR WHICH THEY WERE APPOINTED, AND FOR WHICH THEY HAVE RECEIVED MULTIPLE WRITTEN REQUESTS TO DO!!!

My complaints at the so called Co-operative, (ONE OF THE GREATEST MISNOMERS EVER!), Funeral/Legal services are:

1) They have persistently and consistently REFUSED TO USE MY CORRECT NAME AND TITLE. DESPITE BEING CORRECTED OVER AND OVER AGAIN....AND IN WRITING.

This demonstrates a very basic lack of care, courtesy, compassion and decency.

2) They applied to the High Court to reserve my powers as an Executor, (EFFECTIVELY SIDELINING ME - AGAINST MY LATE MOTHER'S AND MY OWN EXPRESSED WISHES), WITHOUT ANY PERMISSION OR INSTRUCTIONS FROM ME WHATSOEVER!!!!

This is in breach of their duty to act on my instructions as a named executor.

3) ADMISSION OF LIABILITY BUT COMPLETE FAILURE or PROGRESS THE PROBATE

On 21/09/26, Co-operative legal service wrote to me admitting liability for all the issues I raised, and enclosed a cheque for £150 by way of apology. However, TO THIS DAY THEY HAVE MADE ZERO ATTEMPT TO MAKE ANY PROGRESS IN RESOLVING THE PROBATE WHATSOEVER.

The estate remains unadministered. The admission of fault and token payment have done nothing to address the core problem: the probate has NOT been completed, and no timeline for completion has been provided.

And for those thinking this paltry £150 was kind, please understand that the Legal ombudsman's guidance indicates that awards for distress and inconvenience range from £251 - £750, (Significant), and for exceptional cases, (and this qualifies), up to £1000!!!

SO EVEN IN THEIR, 'COMPENSATION', THE UN-CO-OPERATIVE FUNERAL/LEGAL SERVICES WERE STILL RIPPING OFF THE CUSTOMER, AND DOING FAR, FAR LESS THAN THEY SHOULD HAVE.........And STILL HAVE NOT PROGRESSED THE PROBATE!!!!

4) Failure to provide update or a reasonable timeframe

Despite the Unco-operative Funeral/Legal Services ADMITTING LIABILITY for all the above, (the facts are NOT in dispute), NOTHING, BUT NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO PROGRESS THE PROBATE.

My family have not previously used this company, so their unfathomable behaviour cannot be some sort of personal vendetta. I note the multiple positive reviews from other U.K. Citizens, which I sincerely hope, (and I choose to believe), are in fact genuine.

THERE MUST BE SOME OTHER REASON, AND SINCE MY FAMILY ARE OF RECENT AFRICAN HERITAGE, IT IS VERY DIFFICULT NOT TO CONSIDER THE MOTIVE OF RACIAL PREJUDICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AT THE WORST OF TIMES, THIS COMPANY HAS FOREVER TARNISHED & MASSIVELY PROLONGED & AUGMENTED MY PAIN, WHILST I WAS ALREADY GRIEVING. HAVING BEEN EXCEPTIONALLY CLOSE TO MY MOTHER, MY FINAL MEMORIES OF HER WILL FOREVER BE TARNISHED BY UNCO-OPERATIVE FUNERAL/LEGAL SERVICES!!!!!! THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE.

AVOID! AVOID! AVOID! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!

And before any, 'Co-operative', Funeral/Legal Services attempts to pass this off as a fake review:

1) The case reference is JH/7591823P/Ryan
2) I have ZERO interest in more FAKE apologies. If there is an iota of honour within this company - YOU WILL SIMPLY COMPLETE THE PROBATE IN RECORD TIME!
THE SLICK ADVERTISING IS A HUGE LIE IN MY EXPERIENCE!!! AVOID! AVOID! AVOID!!!!!!!!

We recently purchased a funeral plan from the Coop , we felt the price was good and the plan fitted our needs . The gentleman we dealt with was very professional , polite and kind . We would definately recommend the Coop funeral services .

I am one of a group of trustees with the Charity Commissioners who run, on a voluntary basis, a small private cemetery which is a registered charity on Manor Road, South Wingfield. I invoiced this company for the burial fee of £250 iro a gentleman on the 13th August and to date I am not aware that has been paid despite the family having paid the fee to the funeral company for this gentleman. I cannot get a reply from anyone as they say that the payment office is run by AI at Litchfield and they are not allowed to telephone them. Ridiculous. I have emailed the payment office at Litchfield who's info says they will reply in 5 days but no reply has been sent to me. I am about to refer this to the Funeral Association standards and make an official complaint.
Eileen M Turner, Secretary, Hambleton, Memorial and Garden of Rest Manor Road South Wingfield. De55 7NH

Phoned Co-op funeral services in Lake, Isle of Wight as they are dealing with my Mothers funeral! Said they can’t tell me when my own Mothers funeral is because of Data Protection! There is no Data Protection if your dead but apparently if some else is arranging the funeral despite paying with my mothers money they can’t tell you when your own Mother is being buried! Says it all about that Company & wont be ever be using them! If you read this and still use them don’t complain!

Wow !
Tried to contact their Catford branch to get a price,but was passed on to another London branch who just appeared to be totally disinterested based on the manners and attitude of the person I spoke to.
"Oh Catford branch is busy now "(erm I know that because I was passed on from their branch to yours )!
"Try phoning them up again later "...this co-op employee said to me without a please,thank you or any degree of politeness or manners.
They sounded totally uninterested or bothered in what they could do to help me ,but their tone was so cold and unhelpful I doubt I'll be using them again.
Dreadful way of talking to potential customers in my experience.

Trying to arrange three prepaid direct cremations with Co-op has been like pulling teeth. All we wanted to know was whether there were any discounts available through Co-op membership or for family members of Co-op employees.Instead, I’ve been passed from one person to another and eventually left trying to contact Maria, who neither answers her phone nor responds to messages, despite having read them.Given that we're looking to spend over £5,500, I find the lack of communication and customer service quite astonishing. It's hard not to conclude that Co-op simply isn't interested in the business.

I found the experience to be very well organised, simple and efficient.
The person I dealt with was very good, pleasant, polite and the whole process only took 30 minutes

Clearly explained funeral plans at every price range and absolutely no pressure at all to purchase.It really was so easy and reassuring to know that it is now all arranged and paid for.

Good experience . Exactly what I was looking for .

Reliable real-world & trusted funeral plan.

The customer services (Annu) and sales Matilda were very helpful and made life very smooth and easy. Thank you

Purchased my funeral plan with Co-op, which was really easy to do.
My Funeral pack arrived quickly, containing all the details needed for myself and my family members.
I've previously used them for my sister's Cremation a few years ago and the lady at Camborne Co-op Funeral Care was so helpful at such a hard time.

The process was easy once we established that the £1399 fee was for people who were deceased and the fee for pre death plans was £1800. We spoke to a co-op rep by phone who was very helpful.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Nooreza, George, and all the staff at The Co-op Funeral Service on Hertford Road. From start to finish, they were patient, professional, understanding, and exceptionally well organised.

They made the difficult and emotional experience of arranging my mother's funeral much more bearable, providing support and guidance every step of the way. Their compassion and professionalism gave our family great comfort during a very sad time.

I would highly recommend The Co-op on Hertford Road to anyone needing funeral services. A big thank you to the entire team for all your help and kindness.

Oh that young lady was brilliant she was such a help, she advised us on quite a few thing that we wasn’t sure about, but not pushy about anything
So pleasant and well mannered if you can say this in the circumstances that she was here for she made it so easy bless her her name was Emma

Very good Explained everything well

I completed my application for a direct cremation over the phone. This proved to be a very quick, efficient service. 20 minutes and everything was finalised. Peace of mind now for my family

I spoke with David who explained everything fully and considerately.
Very warm welcome and efficient service.