Best Funeral Directors in Napier and Hastings

We assessed 10 funeral directors in Napier and Hastings and ranked the top 5 on public rating quality, review volume and how recent the reviews are. No business can pay for a place in these rankings. Last updated 7 November 2026. How we rank

Top 5 Funeral Directors in Napier and Hastings

The top 5 funeral directors in Napier and Hastings are #1 Tim Hutchins Funeral Services, #2 Terry Longley & Sons, #3 Beth Shan Funerals, #4 Gentle Touch, and #5 Beth Shan Funerals Napier, ranked by Top5 Score.

  • 1

    Tim Hutchins Funeral Services

    ★ 5.0 21 reviews Score 140
    Highest
    5★ 21

    Tim Hutchins Funeral Services coordinates tangihanga, marae visits, livestreams for overseas whānau, and personalised viewing rooms with music and lighting chosen to reflect the loved one.

    204 Saint Aubyn Street West, Hastings

    Call 06 870 6228 Map Is this your business?
  • 2

    Terry Longley & Sons - Funeral Services

    ★ 4.7 38 reviews Score 137
    3.4 behind
    5★ 35 1★ 3

    Terry Longley & Sons has guided Hawke's Bay families through burials, cremations, and personalised memorial services across multiple generations, with the same family name still at the helm.

    19 Cooper Street, Havelock North

    Call 06 877 7873 Map Is this your business?
  • 3

    Beth Shan Funerals Hastings

    ★ 5.0 14 reviews Score 135
    5.1 behind
    5★ 14

    Beth Shan Funerals accommodates religious rituals, overseas repatriation, and live-streamed services for family unable to attend in person.

    cnr Orchard & Maraekakaho Road, Camberley, Hastings

    Call 06 870 3399 Map Is this your business?
  • 4

    Gentle Touch Funeral Services Hastings, Hawkes Bay

    ★ 4.8 20 reviews Score 134
    5.8 behind
    5★ 19 1★ 1

    Gentle Touch works particularly well for families managing arrangements from a distance, coordinating funerals remotely via WhatsApp and phone calls across multiple occasions without requiring family members to be present until the day.

    920 Heretaunga Street West, St Leonards, Hastings

    Call 06 876 7942 Map Is this your business?
  • 5

    Beth Shan Funerals Napier

    ★ 5.0 13 reviews Score 134
    6.0 behind
    5★ 13

    Beth Shan Funerals Napier takes the full weight of funeral organisation off families, covering arrangements, service day logistics, and celebrant coordination so nothing falls to the grieving.

    157 Georges Drive, Napier South, Napier

    Call 06 835 9925 Map Is this your business?

More rankings

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Funeral Directors elsewhere in New Zealand 5 links

Before you choose a funeral director in Napier and Hastings

No licence or register covers funeral directors in New Zealand. Membership of the Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand is voluntary, and its members must give a signed, itemised written estimate before the funeral, so ask for one whoever you choose and check what it includes. A Funeral Grant from Work and Income can help with costs if you meet its income test, and you do not have to use a funeral director at all.

The questions below are drawn from 120 customer reviews collected for this page.

What does a funeral cost in NZ?

Cost turns mostly on whether you choose burial or cremation, and on what the family adds around it. Direct cremation with no service starts from around $1,945 to $3,000 at specialist direct-cremation providers, based on published prices.

The Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand (FDANZ) publishes indicative ranges: a funeral director's professional fee of $3,000 to $6,500, a casket from $1,200 to $5,000, cremation fees from $600 to $1,100, and a burial plot with interment from $1,000 to $8,000. These are published figures from individual providers and FDANZ, not a market survey.

Do funeral directors need a licence in NZ?

No licence or statutory register covers funeral directors in New Zealand; the Law Commission describes the current system as self-regulation under the Burial and Cremation Act 1964. Membership of the Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand (FDANZ) is voluntary, but member firms must provide a signed, itemised written estimate of all charges when instructions are taken, maintain a complaints process, and have at least one director holding an FDANZ practising certificate.

Financial help is available: Work and Income's Funeral Grant pays up to $2,697.43 towards costs, subject to an income test, and ACC contributes where the death resulted from an injury ACC covers. A family can also arrange a funeral without hiring a director at all, provided legal requirements are met, including notifying the death to the Registrar-General within three working days of burial or cremation under the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021.

How do I choose a funeral director who suits our family?

Look for a director who walks you through every option without steering you toward a more expensive one, because reviews repeatedly highlight how much it matters to feel no pressure when making decisions. Cultural fit is worth checking directly: several reviewed providers in this region have handled tangihanga, Pacific Island farewells, South Asian and Sri Lankan rituals, and Cook Islands traditions, and have offered live streaming so overseas family could participate. Ask about viewing facilities before you commit, since the quality and atmosphere of the room where you spend time with your loved one varies considerably between providers, with reviewers noting details like warm lighting, soft music, scented candles and comfortable family spaces as meaningful.

What are the warning signs of a funeral director you shouldn't use?
  • –No written, itemised quote is offered before you commit to anything, leaving you uncertain what you have agreed to pay.
  • –Charges appear on the final invoice that were not discussed when instructions were taken.
  • –Staff are difficult to reach during the arrangement period, or return calls slowly when the family has urgent questions.
  • –Errors appear in paperwork, printed orders of service, or death registration documents, suggesting insufficient attention to detail.
  • –The family feels rushed during viewings or at the funeral home, rather than being given unhurried time with their loved one.
  • –A vehicle associated with the business is driven in a manner that reflects poorly on the firm, as one local reviewer noted directly about dangerous driving near a residential road.
What should you ask a funeral director before you go ahead?
  • –Can you provide a fully itemised written quote before I sign anything, showing each product, service and facility as a separate line?
  • –What is included in the base price and what will cost extra if we want it, such as embalming, a death notice, live streaming or a printed order of service?
  • –When is payment due, is a deposit required upfront, and do you offer a payment plan?
  • –Who registers the death with the Registrar-General, and is that covered in your fee?
  • –Can the service be held at a marae, church, community hall or other venue rather than your chapel, and does that change the cost?
  • –If a prepaid funeral plan was taken out, where is that money held and how is it transferred to cover the costs?
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About this ranking

What the 10 funeral directors listed above hold, at the 7 November 2026 check.

21
reviews held by the #1 ranked business
13
reviews held by the #5 ranked business
4.7
lowest rating among the 10 listed
How are the top funeral directors in Napier and Hastings chosen?

We build this page from Google Maps results for funeral directors in Napier and Hastings. Each one is scored on its public rating and review record, using the same published method on every page. Businesses outside the area, or whose reviews describe a different line of work, are left out. Every category and city is rechecked on a rolling cycle, about every two to three months. See how we rank for how rankings are made and who is left out. On specialist pages like this one, a business's reviews count in proportion to how many of them are about funeral directors, so a business mostly reviewed for other work cannot win on review volume alone. See the words we look for.

Are you a funeral director in Napier and Hastings?

No business can pay for a place in these rankings. Claiming and verifying your listing is free: it adds a small trust bonus (+3 points) to your score, for confirming a real operator stands behind the listing, and gives you a dashboard showing how your score is made up. A paid subscription adds a website link, a profile page and your ranking history. Claim your listing or see what a subscription includes.

Not listed? The usual reasons are a Google Business category that does not match, too few reviews to score near the top, or an address outside the area we cover. Check where you rank first, and if you think we missed you, get in touch.

How far is each one from you?

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