The National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM) has backed away from taking legal action against cemetery authorities that are demanding 30-year guarantees on memorials. Instead members decided at their AGM in Cambridge last month (September) to produce a \'stance document\' on the matter and appeal to the common sense of the authorities to try to get them to understand that such a guarantee is unrealistic.

It was pointed out during the meeting that even the National Housebuilding Council only requires members to give 10-year guarantees.

One of the problems with a 30-year guarantee given by memorial masons is that no insurance company is prepared to cover the risk. In fact, NAMM has not even been able to find an insurance company that would cover a memorial for 10 years. Five years had been the best offer. Without such insurance, the value of a company could be seriously reduced in the eyes of a potential buyer. The masons felt, however, that the fact insurance was not available could help to persuade cemetery and cremation authorities just how unreasonable such a guarantee was.

Ian Gostling, NAMM\'s National Communications Officer (NCO), introduced the matter at the AGM as a resolution from the Midland Region. It proposed that NAMM should not support 30-year guarantees but rather the 10-year guarantees required by the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons (BRAMM) that NAMM has established to verify that people fixing memorials can do so up to a required standard.