Bay funeral debts soar

Western Bay funeral directors say they are becoming increasingly frustrated by customers who owe tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid funeral bills.
Their comments come in the wake of threats by Rotorua funeral director Richard Bennison to exhume the body of a teenager because his family had not paid his funeral bill.
Another Rotorua funeral director, Keith Osborne at Osborne's Funeral Home, then declared that from next month he would require deposits of up to $1500 before funerals could proceed.
Todd Gower, owner of Todd Gower Funeral Services in Tauranga, said he had $40,000 to $50,0000 worth of unpaid funeral bills.
He said many people who were choosing to pay their bills off _ some were up to $10,000 _ were doing so at just $20 a week.
"I have a huge overdraft," he told the Bay of Plenty Times.
Mr Gower does not charge interest, claiming he was "too soft". He also does not charge a deposit but said it was something he would consider.
"Our accounts are made up of different disbursements and we often pay the bills on the families behalf, this includes the burial plot which is about $1400, the flowers, catering, bar tab. We pay it all and then they (the family) bugger off," he said.
"If they're paying it off at $20 a week, well that's just hopeless."
Other times he's had to wait for estates to clear and "hope" the family paid for the cost of the funeral.
Mr Gower said funeral directors could be forced to write off thousands of dollars a year as a result of families being unable to pay their bills. He said many families wanted "the best for mum' but he blamed our ``tick up society" for people's blas? attitude to repaying their debt.
Mr Gower said he had heard of funeral directing practices in bigger cities asking for a credit card up front and threatening to withhold ashes until bills were paid.
"I could never do that to someone though," he said.
Neil Gedge, manager of Elliots Funeral Services on 9th Ave, said his firm did not charge deposits but may need to look into it in time.
He said some funeral directors had unpaid bills extending back 10 years.
"Once you get to five years, you're just about wasting your time. Where else can you get $6000 to $7000 without a credit rating? We work on trust that people are going to pay.
"At 10pm at night we not going to say `we're not [helping] you until we've done a credit check on you'. It's a very sensitive issue and it's a sensitive business," he said.
David McMahon, funeral director for Elliotts Funeral Services, did not charge a deposit but families signed an authority form at the time of the arrangements, making them responsible to pay.
Tauranga funeral director Gregory Brownless said he did not feel comfortable asking for a deposit and was lucky most clients were ``good' at settling accounts.
"If they are going to have trouble paying we can tailor something to their needs."
He said it was an "unfortunate and disappointing" comment made by Mr Bennison about exhuming the teenager's body.
"I understand him getting annoyed but that's not the right thing to do ... He could have said `I own that grave and you shouldn't be putting any monuments on it until you have paid'," Mr Brownless said.
with DAILY POST