A funeral care firm has been forced to pay a grieving family over £1,000 after putting their loved one’s body into a coffin that was too small, causing “deep indentations” to his skull. Co-op Funeralcare was also accused of injuring the hand of the man, referred to as Mr A, in an upheld complaint to the Financial Ombudsman that he was put in the wrong-sized coffin.

Funeral workers also told Mr A’s family that they had lost his dentures while attempting to fit his body inside the coffin, which were later found lying underneath him and reportedly offered to lie him on his side after concerns were raised about the box’s proportions. Mr A died last February and had pre-paid funeral arrangements with the Co-op, with family members not realising what had happened until they went to view his body and found his head sticking out of the coffin. On their second visit, they also noticed the damage to his head and hand.

The company, a subsidiary of the Co-operative Group, reportedly apologised and ordered a larger coffin, which arrived the day before the funeral, The Times reports.

His dentures were found under his body as he was being transferred, but it was too late for them to be reinserted, the ombudsman complaint said.

The deceased’s relatives, referred to as Mr and Mrs G, were initially handed an invoice for £1,723, which exceeded the costs of Mr A’s arranged pay plan. After they raised the issue, the bill was reduced by £545, but the pair decided to escalate their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman in the hope of waiving the costs entirely and seeking additional compensation.

Ombudsman Chris Woolaway ruled that Co-op should reimburse Mr and Mrs G £1,125 plus 8% interest, a charge calculated from the date of Mr A’s passing to that of the settlement.

“Mr and Mrs G have said how deeply upsetting it was to see that Mr A’s body had been damaged in Co-op’s care, and how they’ve been left with the memory of this,” Mr Woolaway said.

“I was sorry to read about the lasting effects this has had on Mr and Mrs G, and I want them to know they have my sympathy for what’s happened.”

Mr A’s relatives said the thought of their loved one being buried with his dentures by his side rather than in his mouth was “awful” and the ombudsman acknowledged that the ruling couldn’t appropriately compensate them because the “eligible complainant” would have been the deceased, who paid for the funeral plan.

A spokesperson for Co-op Funeralcare said: “We are committed to providing the highest standards of service and care for the loved ones of the bereaved families we serve across the nation.

“Whilst we are confident that we fulfilled the arrangements recorded in the funeral plan, regrettably, on this occasion in early 2024, we recognise that we fell short in delivering the usual high standards that we pride ourselves on, for which we sincerely apologise.

“We understand the emotional impact these failings have caused our client and their family, and we have since made process and procedural improvements to prevent such incidents from occurring again.”

The Co-op has announced a major investment as customers are set to notice some price changes in its 2,300 UK stores over the next 12 months. The supermarket, which is the sixth-largest in the UK by number of stores, has pledged to make several moves to help customers through the current cost-of-living crisis. Its £1bn “Back Britain” plan comes after the Budget announcement, and will see prices slashed for both members and non-members across the country.

Prices will be slashed on more than 1,000 products in Co-op’s 2,300 stores nationwide over the next 12 months. Co-op has also pledged to British sourcing, community-led retailing, and skills development. The company says the move reinforces its “belief that responsible business must play its part in tackling the cost-of-living crisis”. A survey by Co-op revealed that 58% of participants list the cost-of-living crisis as one of their top three concerns. This figure is up from 51% in late 2024.

Shirine Khoury-Haq, Co-op Group CEO, said that its commitment to “facilitating over £1 billion of spend into the UK economy over the next year” sees its “biggest ever number of price reductions to help with the cost of living, continued investment in British farmers and suppliers, and a focus on keeping high streets vibrant and safe.”

The £1bn investment will have a focus on categories that support British farming, produce, protein and dairy. Co-op’s investment will “extend lower prices beyond just Co-op members”, in a bid to support “the 15 million weekly transactions that occur in Co-op shops and to help families manage weekly budgets”. 

Co-op also pledged to spend more than £700m a year with British farmers and agriculture suppliers, maintaining its 100% British fresh and frozen meat commitment across all own-brand products.

The supermarket said it will invest in another 100 stores over the next 12 months, including new openings and revamps to existing stores. Recently, Co-op announced that it was opening a record number of stores in the space of seven days as part of its growth plans. 

It has also pledged a £38m annual spend on crime prevention measures, including body cameras for workers and extra security staff. 

Additionally, Co-op has set a target of creating 7,000 matched apprenticeships by 2030 through its Levy Share service. It already spends £1 million a year on its 38 Co-op Academies.