Increases in cremation and burial fees have driven a 4.7 per cent rise in the average cost of a basic funeral to £4,141.
Funeral prices had fallen in recent years after new rules required firms to exhibit a clear rundown of prices on their premises and websites from autumn 2021.
A basic funeral covers a cremation or burial, all funeral director fees, a mid-range coffin, one funeral limousine, a doctor, and a minister or celebrant.
Families wanting a full-scale send-off saw the average cost rise 5% to £9,658 last year
The average price has risen 126 per cent since 2004, when financial services firm SunLife started carrying out an annual study on the cost of dying.
However, it says a growing number of bereaved families have kept costs down by opting for a direct cremation, up from 3 per cent in 2019 to 20 per cent last year.
These are conducted with no service or mourners, but ashes are returned to a family afterwards, allowing them to organise a personal memorial at a time of their choosing.
The price of a direct cremation has fallen for the third year running to £1,498 on average. Meanwhile, a direct burial costs £1,657.
Cremations with a service are still the most common type of funeral, making up 53 per cent of the total, though this is down from 74 per cent five years ago. Burials have increased slightly in that time, and made up 27 per cent of all funerals last year.
Families wanting a full-scale send-off rather than a basic funeral saw the average cost rise 5 per cent to £9,658 last year, found SunLife.
That covers a memorial, death and funeral notices, flowers, order sheets, limousines, the venue and catering for a wake, plus hiring a professional to administer an estate.
SunLife says if costs had risen only in line with inflation since 2004, the average price of a basic funeral would be £3,152.
But instead funeral prices have outstripped inflation at 72 per cent, wage increases of 76 per cent and house price rises of 96 per cent.
If costs had only risen in line with inflation since 2004, the average price of a basic funeral would be £3,152
Since 2021, funeral directors have to show a standardised price list which must include the headline price of a funeral, plus the cost of individual items and related products and services, following a clampdown by the Competition and Markets Authority.
From summer 2021, it banned payments to incentivise hospitals, palliative care services, hospices and care homes or similar institutions to refer customers, and ended the practice of soliciting for business through coroner and police contracts.
Crematorium operators are also now required to provide certain price information to funeral directors and customers.
However, in the past year the average clergy or officiate fee for a cremation or a burial has risen from £174 to £193.
The average cremation fee has gone up from £914 to £977, and burial fee from £2,282 to £2,520.
London remains the most expensive place to hold a funeral, although costs fell last year
Mark Screeton, chief executive of SunLife, says: ‘There are things you can do to make funerals more affordable. More and more people are choosing a direct cremation, followed by a celebration of life held at home.
‘Other top tips include holding a home wake, having a cheaper coffin, spending less on flowers, using social media instead of announcements in the paper, or using your own cars instead of limousines.
‘For those who are not having to worry about a funeral just yet, something to consider would be to start the conversation with loved ones, so they know what you do and don’t want them to spend money on, and where the money will come from.
‘You may also wish to make some provision to cover your funeral costs so that when the time comes, your loved ones are not having to worry about money at an emotionally difficult time.’
Mark Screeton: More and more people are choosing a direct cremation, followed by a celebration of life held at home
How to keep funeral costs down
People who have organised funerals in the past year offered the following tips on what to cut down on or leave out to reduce costs:
– Letter in the paper about the death of the person because family and friends knew about the funeral
– Flowers – a waste of money, better spent on charity
– We ordered too many order-of-service cards. We had loads leftover and it was painful to recycle them.
Some 93 per cent of funeral firms say people spend more money than they need to on bills such as catering, the coffin and flowers. Funeral directors give the following tips to save money:
– Don’t get any limousines – they’re £225 each, and you can make your own way and save money
– You don’t need order of service printed – it’s not important
– Use social media instead of announcements in the press
– Floral tributes – sometimes families can spend £400 to £500, and they can be in the garden for three to four days before they’re destroyed. It’s best to get a family tribute.
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