Funeral directors accused of ‘buying’ bodies from care homes and hospitals

Witnesses say some institutions work with “fixed” undertakers, despite a law enabling families to decide which undertaker handles their loved one’s funeral. In some cases, relatives were only informed after a body had already been moved. 

Any other practice – such as automatically calling in a regular funeral director – is against the law. Deviation from the law is only permitted if the family cannot be found or if there is a risk to public health.

“You shouldn’t profit from dead people,” one insider, who wished to remain anonymous, told VRT. “In some nursing homes, the same colleagues keep coming back. In exchange for gifts, such as champagne and chocolates, but also for money, they are allowed to collect the deceased. That can be up to €250 per body. They simply pass on those costs to the family later.”

The ZAS Middelheim hospital in Antwerp was repeatedly named in the testimonies. Internal emails seen by WinWin suggest management was aware of the practice, though earlier internal and city investigations were dropped due to lack of evidence. 

An anonymous witness describes how a friend was refused the choice of undertaker: “The mortuary employee claimed to work with a regular undertaker. When we protested, we were shouted at and shown the door.”

Her complaint to the hospital’s ombudsman service led to nothing.

The hospital says it is “shocked and dismayed” by the fresh allegations and urges families to come forward. “At one of the most vulnerable moments in their lives, relatives have experienced things that are unacceptable,” a spokesperson said. “Our policy is that they have 100 per cent freedom of choice when it comes to funeral directors.”

“It would be hypocritical to say that such deals do not exist,” said Johan Dexters, chair of the Funebra professional association.

“In certain regions, it is even a persistent problem. I would like to [intervene], but as an association we don't have many weapons at our disposal. Funeral directors do not have a registration number that we can revoke if they go too far. At most, we can give them a slap on the wrist.”

The full investigation airs on Thursday on VRT1’s WinWin.