Funeral costs

Losing a loved one is a very traumatic experience. Furthermore, practical worries such as how to arrange and pay for the funeral often add to the stress, particularly as funerals tend to be rather costly affairs. Follow this introductory guide to help minimise the stress and cost.

First, don’t feel guilty about shopping around to get the cheapest deal. This isn’t disrespectful or uncaring, it’s simply common sense – and essential if you’re on a tight budget. There’s no reason why you can’t give your loved one the best possible send-off they would have hoped for without it costing too much.

• A funeral can’t go ahead without the death being registered. You’ll get a funeral authorisation along with the death certificate, which will allow you to start making plans.

• Before you start making any plans of your own, check whether the deceased had expressed any particular wishes. The most obvious starting point is the will if they had one. If there’s nothing stated in the will about a funeral, there may be a separate funeral plan alongside it – many people keep important documents such as this next to each other. The funeral plan may just have a few sketchy wishes or it could be a full-blown pre-arranged agreement with a funeral director, perhaps even partially or fully paid for. If there’s no funeral plan either, speak to other close relatives and friends to find out if the deceased had discussed any arrangements or wishes with them.

• If there are no known plans, discuss with other close relatives (and/or friends) what type of funeral you would like for your loved one – something formal or informal? Religious or secular? Cremation or burial? And what type of gathering if any would you like for after the service?

• Establish your budget. Who will pay for it if it hasn’t already been paid for by the loved one? How much can they afford? Is there enough money in your loved one’s bank account to pay for it? As a rule, banks will permit loved ones to withdraw money from a bank account belonging to the deceased in order to purchase the necessities for a funeral.

• Draw up a list of everything that you want/need for the funeral as a checklist for taking to funeral directors. The benefit of this is that it will allow you to easily compare one package to the next. You might be surprised at how much the costs fluctuate between funeral directors. Ask whether the quote includes all expenses as sometimes these aren’t included in the package price. Here are some pointers:

• coffin
• hearse
• transport for loved ones
• disbursement (fee) for person taking the service
• floral arrangements/wreaths
• disbursement for doctor for signing certificates etc
• disbursement for burial or cremation
• purchase of plot in cemetery for burial (or fee for re-opening family plot)
• cost of gravedigger for a burial
• headstone for a burial
• urn for a cremation

• Directors that are members of the National Association of Funeral Directors should offer a basic funeral. This is a low-cost package that should include all necessities to ensure an acceptable standard of funeral. Again, though, check what’s included in the package with each quote.

• Ask any questions if you are unsure. It’s important to know precisely what you will be getting for your money, and to ensure that it is exactly what you want for your lost loved one.

• You don’t need to hire a funeral director to have a funeral. Taking care of all the arrangements yourself (purchasing the coffin, hiring transport, getting the necessary forms and authorisations, etc) can save a lot of money. Bear in mind that it can be rather time-consuming and stressful though, which is the last thing you want at a time like this.

• If you opt for a burial, you have an automatic right to have your loved one buried in the parish in which they resided or passed away, as long as there is a free plot to accommodate them. If they were a parishioner at a particular church, ask the church if they had already paid for a plot in its cemetery. If you specifically want them to be interred in another parish, you’ll need to discuss this with the local clergy. It could also cost more.

• You’re allowed to place whatever you want inside your loved one’s coffin. Many people like to bury with their loved one items that were dear to them, or they like to have them dressed in their favourite clothes.

• If you’re having a cremation for the deceased, there are a few more formalities that must be dealt with before it can go ahead to certify the cause of death. You’ll have to pay a fee to a couple of doctors to sign the certificate (unless the deceased died in hospital, in which case only one doctor needs to sign, or they were seen by the Coroner). Funeral directors are used to dealing with this and will be able to advise you.

• Most crematoria have a room where a service can be held, although it’s not necessary to have it there. You may prefer to have the service separate from the committal, perhaps at your loved one’s local church.

• Arrange for a plaque in the crematorium garden if you want one, and also for your loved one’s ashes to be scattered there if that’s what you want. (There may be an additional charge for this.)

• If neither the person considered responsible for paying for the funeral nor any other close relatives can afford to pay for it and the deceased did not have enough money to cover it, there are government benefits that can assist you. The Social Fund exists to help people who are claiming government benefits (e.g. income support or jobseekers allowance) to pay for the funeral of a loved one. It provides a grant to cover funeral expenses, which you may have to repay once your loved one’s estate has been settled.

• In addition to the Social Fund benefit for helping towards funeral costs, there are benefits to help support people through their bereavement. Widows can claim bereavement allowance for a maximum of 52 weeks after the death of their spouse or civil partner. There are certain stipulations and not everyone is eligible. For example, you must not be claiming a state pension, you must not have any dependents and you will need to have accumulated a certain level of National Insurance Contributions.

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