What a repatriation fee covers, and what it doesn't

A repatriation fee is one figure for a dozen separate things, and the quality of a quote is whether it lists them. Every figure we publish is an estimate until we know the case, and once we do, the written quote is the figure on the invoice. This guide is the list a complete fee should cover, so you can hold any quote against it.

What a complete fee covers, from the UK

1. The collection of your loved one from the hospital, home, care home or hospice, at any hour.
2. Their care at a chapel of rest between the collection and the day they travel.
3. Embalming, which nearly every destination country requires for a body crossing its border, and the certificate that confirms it.
4. The sealed coffin, prepared to the standard the destination and the carrier require. A standard repatriation coffin is included in our figure; an upgraded one is the family’s choice and is quoted separately.
5. The death certificate from the register office, and the certified copies the process needs.
6. The legalisation of the death certificate with an apostille from the Foreign Office, where the destination requires it, and its translation where the destination requires that.
7. The notice to the coroner that your loved one is leaving England and Wales, and the coroner’s acknowledgement, which the carrier and the border will ask to see.
8. The consular documents, where the destination’s consulate in London issues one, and any fee the consulate charges for it; some charge, some do not.
9. The transport, by road in our own vehicle or by air as cargo on a scheduled flight, including the airline’s handling charges.
10. The customs and border paperwork at the destination’s point of entry.
11. The handover to a named funeral director at the destination, with every document passed across.
12. One point of contact who tells you where your loved one is at each of the steps above without being asked.

Repatriation, step by step explains each of these in the order they happen, and what documents does a repatriation need lists the papers in items 5 to 8 by direction.

What is commonly outside the fee

Four things, and a good quote names them so there is no surprise.

The receiving funeral director’s charges. From the moment of the handover, your loved one is in the care of a funeral director in the destination country, and that funeral director’s collection from the airport or the border, their care, and the funeral itself are their invoice, not ours. We name the home we hand over to and tell you what they charge, or hand over to one your family has already chosen.

An upgraded coffin. The border requires a sealed coffin; it does not require a particular one. A family that wants a specific coffin for the funeral can have it, and it is the line that adds most.

Doctor’s, coroner’s and court fees. Where a death is investigated, the coroner’s certificate and any post-mortem are the coroner’s, and a court abroad has its own costs. These are passed on at cost when they exist.

Travel for the family. Your own flights or the fuel to follow a road repatriation are yours, though a travel insurance policy sometimes pays for one relative’s flight.

How to read a quote against this list

Take any quote and tick the twelve items. Where a line is missing, ask whether it is included or simply not mentioned; a company that has included it will say so in one sentence, and a company that has not will change the subject. Then ask which funeral director receives your loved one and what that home charges. Two quotes that both pass those tests will usually be a few hundred pounds apart, and the choice between them is about who you trust to tell you where your loved one is at two in the morning. How to choose a repatriation company has the seven questions for that.

Who pays the fee

The family, unless a travel insurance policy, an employer’s policy or the estate covers it, and who pays for a repatriation goes through each in the order to ask. How much does repatriation cost from the UK has the estimated bands by destination.