How much do funerals cost?

Your funeral director should be able to estimate how much a funeral will cost once you’ve provided a basic outline of everything you need.

No two funerals are ever the same, but unfortunately the average cost of a funeral has risen over the last decade. It is now rare for a decent funeral to cost less than £2,000. If you want to organize a very elaborate farewell to a loved one, then it could easily cost over £5,000 once items such as transport, catering and flowers have been taken into account.

The last few years have seen significant inflation in funeral prices, principally because of increases in “disbursements” – payments made by the funeral director to third-parties on the client’s behalf. In particular, the fees charged by churches and crematoria have risen dramatically (partly because of higher energy prices), while burial costs have gone up as well. As many people consider these to be essential parts of a traditional funeral service, it’s very difficult for someone planning a funeral to avoid the higher costs.

Legal responsibilities to pay

It is important to remember that, legally, the person who hires the funeral director is responsible for paying the bill. However, there may be several ways of offsetting this cost:

Debt against the estate – In many cases it is possible to pay the funeral cost out of the deceased’s estate, although funeral directors will often expect to be paid before probate (the legal delay in administering someone’s will) has cleared.
Bank or building society account – If the deceased had a bank or building society account which contained adequate funds to pay for the funeral at the time of their death, the institution with whom it is held may be willing to pay for the costs of the funeral in return for deducting the sum from the deceased’s account.
Prepaid funeral plans – You need to check whether the deceased had a prepaid funeral plan. For more information about funeral plans, click here.
Government assistance – You may be eligible for a government payment to help offset the cost of paying for a funeral. For more information, click here.

For some more detailed information about how much funerals cost, a dedicated online guide is provided by Funeralcostshelp.co.uk.