Privacy Policy

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Who are we

Howarth’s Funeral Service
Peel House
638 Blackburn Road
Astley Bridge
Bolton BL1 7AL

Tel: 01204 309609
Email: staff@1hfs.co.uk

Howarth’s Funeral Service is an independently owned, family run funeral service. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information carefully, respectfully and securely.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we may share it with, and your rights in relation to your information.

Information we collect

We may collect and process the following types of personal information:

Contact details
Your name, address, telephone number, email address and other contact information.

Funeral arrangement information
Details needed to arrange and provide funeral services, including information about the person who has died, family members, next of kin, funeral preferences, service arrangements, burial or cremation details, floral tributes, vehicles, catering, service sheets, donations and other related requests.

Sensitive or special category information
Where necessary for funeral arrangements, we may process information relating to religious, cultural or personal wishes, health-related details, or other sensitive information connected with the person who has died or the family’s instructions. We only process this information where it is necessary and where we have a lawful basis to do so.

Payment and billing information
Billing details, invoice information and payment records. We do not store card details.

Correspondence
Emails, letters, telephone call notes, messages, forms or other communications between you and Howarth’s Funeral Service.

Website and technical information
Information such as your IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited and how you use our website. This may be collected through cookies or similar technologies.

How we use your information

We use your personal information to:

  • provide funeral services and related arrangements;
  • respond to enquiries and requests;
  • communicate with you about funeral arrangements;
  • prepare documents, service sheets, funeral notices or other requested materials;
  • liaise with crematoria, cemeteries, clergy, celebrants, doctors, hospitals, coroners, local authorities, florists, caterers, newspapers, online tribute providers or other relevant third parties where needed;
  • send invoices and process payments;
  • keep accurate business and service records;
  • meet our legal, regulatory and professional obligations;
  • improve our website, services and communications.

We do not sell or trade your personal information.

We do not use your personal information for direct marketing unless you have clearly agreed to this.

Lawful basis for processing

Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for using your personal information. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contractual necessity
To provide funeral services and carry out the arrangements you have asked us to make.

Legal obligation
To comply with legal, regulatory, financial, tax or record-keeping requirements.

Legitimate interests
To manage our business, respond to enquiries, provide a professional service, improve our website and services, and maintain accurate records.

Consent
Where you have clearly given us permission, for example for optional communications or specific uses of information.

Vital interests
In limited circumstances, where information may need to be used to protect someone’s vital interests.

Where we process sensitive or special category information, we will only do so where there is an appropriate lawful basis and a relevant condition under UK data protection law.

Sharing your information

We may share your personal information with trusted third parties where it is necessary to provide our services or meet our legal obligations.

This may include:

  • crematoria, cemeteries and burial grounds;
  • clergy, celebrants, ministers or places of worship;
  • doctors, hospitals, hospices, care homes, coroners and registrars;
  • local authorities and government bodies;
  • florists, printers, caterers, vehicle providers and other funeral service suppliers;
  • newspapers, online funeral notice providers, tribute pages or donation platforms, where requested;
  • payment processors, banks, accountants and professional advisers;
  • IT, website, email and administrative service providers;
  • legal or regulatory bodies where required by law.

We only share information where necessary and expect third parties to handle your information securely and in accordance with data protection law.

How we store and protect your information

We take appropriate steps to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.

We use suitable technical and organisational measures to keep information secure. This may include secure systems, restricted access, password protection, staff awareness and careful handling of paper and electronic records.

How long we keep your information

We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes it was collected, including providing funeral services, maintaining business records, responding to enquiries, and meeting legal, financial or regulatory requirements.

The length of time we keep information may vary depending on the type of record and the reason it is held.

When information is no longer required, we will securely delete, destroy or anonymise it.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have rights in relation to your personal information.

These may include the right to:

  • access the personal information we hold about you;
  • ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
  • ask us to delete your information in certain circumstances;
  • ask us to restrict how we use your information;
  • object to how we use your information in certain circumstances;
  • ask for your information to be transferred to another organisation where applicable;
  • withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent to process your information.

These rights are not always absolute and may depend on the circumstances. For example, we may need to keep certain information to comply with legal or regulatory obligations.

To exercise your rights, please contact us using the details below:

Howarth’s Funeral Service
Peel House
638 Blackburn Road
Astley Bridge
Bolton BL1 7AL

Tel: 01204 309609
Email: staff@1hfs.co.uk

Complaints

If you have any concerns about how we handle your personal information, please contact us first so that we can try to resolve the matter.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is the UK’s data protection regulator.

Information Commissioner’s Office
Website: www.ico.org.uk
Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Cookies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to help it function properly, improve performance and understand how visitors use the site.

Cookies may be used to:

  • support website functionality;
  • understand how visitors use our website;
  • improve the performance and usability of the site;
  • remember certain preferences.

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Please note that some parts of the website may not work as expected if cookies are disabled.

For more information, please see our Cookie Policy.

Updates to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, website, legal requirements or data protection practices.

This Privacy Policy was last updated in July 2026.

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