Household Bills
Average basic funeral now costs nearly £4,000
Funerals are now one of the UK’s fastest rising costs, outstripping inflation, wages and pensions, according to a study.
The cost of a basic funeral rose for the 13th consecutive year in 2016 and now stands at £3,897, a 5.5% increase in a single year, and more than double the £1,920 reported in 2004.
If the cost of a funeral had risen in line with inflation over the last 13 years, it would stand at £2,540, the report by SunLife found.
The total cost of dying – including fees for probate, headstones and flowers as well as the basic cost of a funeral – has risen by 8.3% in the last year to £8,802, 16 times faster than the rate of inflation.
London remains the most expensive place to die, with the average funeral costing £5,529, some 42% more than the national average.
The good news is 62% of people have put aside some money to help cover the costs of their own funeral, up from 59% last year and 54% in 2009.
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However, Brits appear to be reluctant to talk about funerals. The vast majority of those surveyed who had organised a funeral did not know all the preferences of the deceased. In fact, just 1% fully understood their loved ones’ send-off wishes. Only 37% knew which funeral director to use, and just 59% knew the deceased’s preference for burial or cremation.
Graham Jones, director at SunLife, said: “We all know that death will eventually come to us all, and therefore, we will all need to pay for a funeral, yet it is something that, as a nation, we are uncomfortable talking about or planning for.
“Unfortunately, this reluctance to talk death is not only causing financial issues, but emotional ones too.”
