In the hours after a death abroad, families are in shock, under time pressure, and surrounded by people offering to help. Hotel staff, resort managers, local tour representatives, and even well-meaning fellow tourists often suggest “just speaking to the local funeral director.” In a small number of situations, this is fine. In most, it is a mistake that costs time, money, and causes additional distress.
The Problem with Local Funeral Directors in Tourist Resorts
Resort areas attract opportunistic local funeral services that are accustomed to dealing with tourists and their families who do not know local prices, local law, or what the process should cost. Several patterns occur repeatedly:
Price inflation at the moment of maximum vulnerability. Families are in shock, do not speak the language, and have no frame of reference for what any of this should cost. Local operators know this. Some resort-area funeral directors in popular destinations charge two to four times what a UK-coordinated repatriation company would pay for the same local services.
Services that duplicate or conflict with the UK insurer’s process. When the travel insurer is contacted, they will appoint their approved repatriation company, who will then need to engage their own local partner. If the family has already paid a local funeral director to begin embalming or paperwork, the insurer’s company may need to unpick that work, restart the documentation from their preferred partner, and the family may not be reimbursed for money already spent with the first operator.
Local operators who do not know international cargo requirements. Embalming for local burial is different from embalming to IATA standards for air cargo. A funeral director who mainly serves the local community may not be familiar with the zinc-lined sealed container requirements, the specific health certificates required for international transport, or the airline’s documentation standards. Paperwork errors produced by an inexperienced local operator can ground a cargo booking.
Language and documentation issues. Local operators may produce documentation in the local language only, without the certified translations required for international transport or UK registration. Corrections to documentation take time.
Common Mistakes in the First Hours
Mistake 1: Accepting the hotel’s preferred funeral director without questions. Hotels often have informal relationships with local funeral homes, sometimes financial. The hotel’s recommendation is not independent.
Mistake 2: Not calling the travel insurer first. The insurer’s approved repatriation company should be the primary coordinator. Not calling the insurer before committing to any funeral costs may void your right to reimbursement.
Mistake 3: Authorising a local funeral director to begin work before the travel insurer or repatriation company has been contacted. Once embalming or preparation has begun, the process is harder to redirect.
Mistake 4: Assuming the local funeral director knows the UK process. They may know their local process; they may not know the UK coroner, Border Force, and receiving funeral director requirements.
Mistake 5: Letting a tour representative manage the process. Tour operators have a duty of care obligation but are not funeral professionals. Their representative in resort is there to help with logistics, not to coordinate international repatriation.
What to Do Instead
In the first hours after a death abroad, the priority actions are:
- Notify the local authorities (police, hospital, or emergency services as appropriate for the circumstances). Do not instruct anyone to move the body until authorities have been called.
- Call the travel insurer’s 24-hour emergency line. Before any funeral costs are agreed, confirm coverage and get instructions on who should be doing what.
- Call a UK-based repatriation specialist. If the insurer does not have an approved company or you want parallel assurance, a UK specialist can advise immediately on what steps to take and what not to authorise locally.
- Do not pay any local funeral director directly unless the insurer or repatriation company has specifically approved that payment. Keep all receipts and correspondence.
When a Local Funeral Director Is the Right Choice
Local funeral directors are the right professionals to use when the repatriation company has specifically appointed them as their local partner. The right process is: UK repatriation company selects and instructs local partner, not family selects local operator independently.
In some countries, a specific local funeral director is the insurer’s or repatriation company’s established local partner. Being asked by the repatriation company to liaise with a named local operator is entirely normal. This is different from the family walking into a random resort funeral home.
Sources: FCDO, Death Abroad: Practical Guidance for Families, gov.uk, accessed May 2026. Association of British Insurers, What to Do If Someone Dies Abroad, abi.org.uk, 2024. National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD), Repatriation Standards, nafd.org.uk, 2024. Financial Ombudsman Service, Travel Insurance Complaints: Third Party Costs, financial-ombudsman.org.uk, 2023. Which?, Death Abroad: What Travel Insurance Covers, which.co.uk, 2024.