This figure is 29 times higher than overall UK inflation and a staggering 92% rise since SunLife’s Cost of Dying report launched in 2004.

The basic figure includes the fees for the funeral director, the cremation or burial itself, the doctor and the minister or celebrant. The average cost of a burial in 2015 is £4,104, £822 more than the average cost of cremation.

If prices continue to rise in the same pattern as the past decade, the average funeral will cost £4,620 by 2020.

The findings suggest the overall cost of dying, which includes the basic funeral, the amount spent on the send-off and the administration of the estate, has fallen by 3.6% to £8,126, with the decrease in cost of administering an estate being a key factor.

The send-off includes the combined costs of the memorial, death and funeral notices, flowers, order sheets, extra limousines, the venue and the catering for the wake, and costs an average £2,000.

While most people are not making their wishes for their funeral clear, they are at least making financial provision to pay for it; this year, 59% made specific provisions to pay for their funeral before they died, up from 57% last year.

Some 84% had made sufficient provision to cover the entire cost and over a quarter (27%) had put a prepaid funeral plan in place – a rise on 2014, when less than a quarter (24%) had done so.

However, those whose loved ones had either not made any financial provisions to cover their funeral, or not enough to cover all costs, had to find an average of £2,449 to cover the shortfall, up 3.3% on last year’s figure. This means the shortfall has risen more sharply than the cost of the funerals themselves (2.9%).

One in six who had to cover the entire cost themselves said that finding the money had caused them ‘notable financial concerns’. Of this group, half had to borrow money – either from friends or relatives (21%), the bank or a loan provider (8%) or via a credit card (21%) -while one in seven (14%) had to sell belongings.

Dean Lamble, managing director at SunLife, said it was clear from the report that many of us are still uncomfortable talking about death, meaning those left to organise the funeral in many cases do not know what their loved one wanted.

He said: “It is really important to talk about and plan for our funeral. As our report has shown, if we don’t make plans we put a significant financial burden on the people we leave behind, and an emotional one, too.”

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