Nearly half of the funeral directors inspected in 2024 and 2025 by Fraud Repression presented anomalies. Nearly 500 companies were inspected in total, resulting in 47 fines for a total amount of 130,000 euros.
These successive controls made it possible to track down abusive commercial practices and overbilling likely to significantly increase the bill for bereaved families.
Faced with this situation, the professional advises the relatives of the deceased every day on a voluntary basis and helps them dissect the quotes from funeral operators.
It is therefore recommended to systematically obtain two, three or four quotes from different companies, especially since funeral prices have increased by 15% in four years, according to data published by INSEE.
Among the witnesses to these abuses, Christophe, an embalmer who has been working for several large groups of funeral directors in the Toulon region for 37 years, denounces methods aimed at generating excessive margins to the detriment of customers.
According to his numerical observations, large companies charge families between 500 and 600 euros per week for their services, while he only charges them 200 euros."So, families lost 400 euros of margin,"he explains. He also relates direct instructions imposed by these structures:"They told me: 'You are going to charge for a toilet', and they charged the family 300 euros.".