Manchester funeral director gets debt threats

Michael Kennedy said some clients ordered lavish funerals

A Manchester funeral director claims he has received threats his business would be burned down after hiring bailiffs to pursue clients who owe money.

Michael Kennedy, a funeral director for nearly 25 years, said a growing number of families were ordering lavish funerals they could not afford.

He said some families reacted badly when he used debt recovery agencies.

"Bailiffs have been more or less verbally threatened with assault with weapons," he said.

I'm very upset to think that people in Manchester feel that they need to be violent, physically or verbally, to people who've looked after them and cared for them

Michael Kennedy
Funeral director

Mr Kennedy says that alongside "welfare" funerals where the only mourners are his staff, families are demanding increasingly lavish services - often without the funds.

A recent funeral involved doves, an organist, a soloist, pipers and a horse-drawn hearse at a cost of between £6,000 and £7,000.

The money has not been paid.

"We had one family who actually threatened to burn the place down if the bailiffs knocked on their door."

"I'm very upset to think that people in Manchester feel that they need to be violent, physically or verbally, to people who've looked after them and cared for them."

Mr Kennedy went into the funeral business after considering becoming a Catholic priest and worked for a local firm before setting up his own business.

His firm looked after the funeral of Moors murder victim Pauline Reade in the 1980s.

He now says he may have to consider selling out to a larger firm if debts are not paid.