(Headstone image via Shutterstock)
A Winnipeg company is trying to simplify the funeral-planning business by introducing a new flat-fee service fee for families when they lose a loved one.
Integrity Death Care Consultants has been operating in the city for just over a year and acts as a buffer between customers and death care providers, such as funeral homes and cemeteries.
“When people are in vulnerable situations they aren’t thinking straight,” said Shane Neufeld, a former funeral director and now the senior consultant at Integrity Death Care.
“They may be walking into a place that is run on meeting a quota or driven by commission and they’re being sold products and services that they can get more affordably elsewhere.”
The company facilitates the need of each family for a flat fee and was formed after a man’s daughter was struck and killed by an alleged drunk driver.
“It’s not really something you think about until you have to,” said Brian Wall. “And honestly, nobody in our family could think of anything at all. I’m sure if we didn’t have Shane to guide us through the process we would have just walked into a funeral home and taken whatever they sold us.”
How does it work?
Clients are able to plan from their own home, while consultants learn about their loved ones and work with the family on their needs for the right occasion. This includes consultants researching options in venues, flowers, catering, caskets, urns or ash scattering and other details to carry out the loved-one and family’s wishes.
Neufeld says the overall goal is to help families make comfortable decisions while potentially saving them thousands of dollars.
