Who is behind The Bereavement Register?
The REaD Group (UK) Ltd provides data marketing solutions to the Direct Marketing Industry. The company was established in 1992 and has striven for over a decade to improve the quality of data throughout the Marketing Industry, which is fundamental to its success. Over 50% of all UK mailing data is now screened against one or other of our products. In the last year alone, The REaD Group has stopped two billion items of incorrectly addressed mail form being sent.
The REaD Group’s flagship product The Gone Away Suppression File provided a solution to the problem of mailing people who moved. It also led to the identification of another problem within the industry – mailing the deceased. Receiving mail for someone who has moved is frustrating, but if you are suffering a bereavement and the deceased person is still being mailed it is also distressing and offensive. The REaD Group realised that although some UK deceased information was already available, the nature of its data collection meant that almost a year would elapse between someone dying and their name being removed from mailing files.
From our own personal experiences, and the fact that mailing the deceased is the most frequent complaint made to the UK’s Data Protection Commissioner, we understood the need to develop The Bereavement Register to provide a solution for the Direct Marketing Industry and above all, for those coming to terms with the loss of a loved one.
In March 2003, The Bereavement Register expanded into Canada. The read more about the history of the The Bereavement Register, click here.
Stats & Facts
Last year, in Canada, 232,000 people passed away – 630 every day
In the year following a person’s death they are likely to be sent 80 pieces of direct mail, and receive the same amount of telemarketing calls – almost four attempted contacts a week
Mailing the deceased is not only annoying; it is distressing and highly offensive to the bereaved
Mailing the deceased is the biggest complaint received by the UK’s Data Protection Commissioner
The service is free of charge to both the Funeral Home and the bereaved
Highlights of The Bereavement Register (UK)
Details of the deceased are often available to Direct Marketing companies within two weeks of death
More than 1000 companies screened their data against The Bereavement Register in 2002
As of January 2003 there were 1.7 Million deceased records on The Bereavement Register (UK)
85% coverage of all UK deaths
One third of the British public who have received mail for deceased friends and relatives say that they are unlikely to, or have thought twice about, ever purchasing from that company again.
Why our service will be effective in Canada.