Community Funeral Relief (COF) welcomes any Muslim individual or family of East African origin to become a community member of our organisation. Community membership is obtained by means of making an online application. Once your community membership has been approved, you will have the benefit of full funeral cost cover up to the maximum threshold cost (which is currently £3,400) as explained in greater detail in our Terms & Conditions of Membership – which must be accepted by an applicant before membership can be granted.

❖ In addition, every community member will be required to make a small pro rata contribution to assist with the funeral costs of any community member who dies.

❖ In the event of a community member dying, his or her relatives will not be obliged to pay for any of the funeral costs of the deceased provided that these do not exceed the maximum threshold cost. Instead, all current community members will be asked to make a pro rata contribution towards covering these costs.

❖ Contributions paid towards a deceased community member’s funeral costs are not fixed. They vary in accordance with the particular funeral costs (up to the maximum threshold cost) and the number of paid up community members at the time that a funeral takes place – and accordingly they are determined on a case by case basis by the COF Board of Trustees. The more community members there are, the smaller the pro rata contribution is.

❖ Any additional funeral expense which exceeds the guaranteed maximum threshold cost must be borne by the family of the deceased.

❖ In this way COF helps its community members to assist each other in dealing with the traumas associated with the death of a loved one and the practical steps which have to be taken – and sharing the costs associated with his or her funeral.

❖ As long as a community member is fully paid up, he or she and their surviving relatives can benefit from the services provided by COF when death occurs – there is no minimum term of community membership requirement before being eligible to benefit.

❖ If any of a community member’s payments are in arrears (including the annual community membership renewal fee and any pro rata contributions which are overdue), then his or her community membership will be suspended and he or she will not be eligible to benefit from any of the services provided by COF unless and until these arrears have been settled within the time limits prescribed by the COF Terms & Conditions of Membership.

❖ It is a condition of COF community membership that all payments are regarded as charitable contributions to COF and a sadaqa lillah – which will be utilised only in furtherance of the organisation’s charitable objects – and which accordingly cannot be regarded either as a personal investment or as a loan. This means that all payments/contributions are not refundable under any circumstances.

❖ COF does not accept applications for community membership made by anyone who is also a member of another similar funeral service organisation.

❖ Finally, in order to avoid any doubt and to be clear: the work of the COF trustees is on a voluntary basis and is unpaid. They are the servants of their community. They look to Allah for their reward, in this world and in the next world.