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Save £100 when you purchase two funeral plans together. Call us for more details.
Buy now, pay in January
Buy your funeral plan today and pay in January for peace of mind this Christmas. Click here for full T&Cs.
Two Together: Save £100!
Save £100 when you purchase two funeral plans together. Call us for more details.
Buy now, pay in January
Buy your funeral plan today and pay in January for peace of mind this Christmas. Click here for full T&Cs.
12 minute read
The rising cost of funerals in the UK is leaving many of us wondering how to pay for funeral expenses. Funerals bring a lot of administrative headaches, as well as emotional pain; the question how to afford funeral costs can exacerbate these two concerns. In this article we will dive into the topic of funeral expenses, offering some advice on how to keep them down.
We’d also just like to say that, if you’ve found us here, we understand that you could be going through a difficult moment. Aura is the top-rated national provider of ‘Cremation Services’ on Trustpilot, with a score of 4.9/5 stars. We offer our funeral services to those requiring a direct cremation in the near future, as well as those thinking about their own future funeral, through our prepaid funeral plans.
How much does a funeral cost? To answer that question, we have to think about ‘necessary expenses’ and ‘additional costs’, as well as considering what the average funeral cost is in the UK.
In general, funeral expenses can be divided into ‘necessary expenses’ on the one hand, and ‘additional costs’ on the other. Each and every funeral will have certain costs which cannot be avoided. For example, certain administrative fees, such as the cost of applying for probate when executing a will with an estate of more than £5,000. Then there are unavoidable practical matters: the cost of collecting the person who has died from the location of their death; the cost of their care in mortuary facilities prior to their funeral, and transportation to the location of the funeral; the fees associated with cremation or burial.
There are also additional extras that can be paid for. Many people like to add details and personal flourishes which can help to set things off in a way that expresses the personality of the person who has died more effectively. These could include the costs associated with, for example, floral tributes, a custom coffin, having an attended direct cremation ceremony complete with the services of a funeral celebrant. These extras can increase the cost of matters significantly.
There are a couple of different organisations out there which attempt to share reliable funeral-cost data with consumers. For instance, according to the Cost of Dying report produced by SunLife, last year’s average traditional funeral cost in the UK was £4,141. Legal & General put the average cost at £4,706. These prices don’t distinguish cremation vs burial, instead amalgamating the two types of funeral into one average cost. In general, cremation is significantly cheaper than burial across the board. It’s worth noting that these reports also chart the year-on-year increase in funeral pricing. SunLife point out that funeral prices have risen by 126% in a 20-year period, which is significantly higher than the 72% increase in rate of inflation over the same period.
The average price of cremation vs burial in the UK is likely to vary significantly by region. For example, according to Legal & General, the average prices of a cremation and a burial respectively in Wales last year was ~£3,900 and ~£5,000. The prices for the same services in the Greater London area are ~£4,900 and ~£8,800.
A delicate and potentially confusing follow-up which follows on from the question “what are funeral expenses?” is who should pay for them.
The costs of a funeral are typically borne by the estate of the person who has died. It may be possible, depending on the type of expense and how expensive it was relative to the total value of the estate, to claim back the tax on these expenses when paying the inheritance tax. If the person who has died had a funeral plan in place, then the funeral is already paid for, with the funeral-plan provider legally responsible for paying the costs of the specified funeral.
With that being said, the process of wrapping up an estate can be very lengthy, meaning that if the family intends to pay funeral costs by relying on it, they will likely need to pay the costs themselves in the first instance and then reimburse themselves from the estate later. The same is true if the family wants to use money within the bank account of the person who has died to pay funeral costs – depending on the bank, this can also take a long time to access. For insurance covering funeral costs, such as funeral insurance or over-50s life insurance, there can also be delays relating to the Death Certificate.
If there is nobody left behind by the person who has died who is willing or able to cover the costs of the funeral, then the legal responsibility for organising and paying for their funeral falls to the local government. This is what is colloquially referred to as a ‘pauper’s funeral’, but more generally known as a ‘public health funeral’. The local government will always try to recover as much of the costs they bear as possible from out of the estate, even if there’s not enough there to cover everything.
The UK government can help eligible families by offering them the chance to claim funeral costs back through a couple of different schemes: the Funeral Expenses Payment and the Bereavement Support Payment. It’s unlikely that these payments will cover the full cost of the funeral being organised, but they can provide significant financial relief to families wondering how to get help with funeral expenses.
Financial support from the government may not be appropriate or available to everyone. In which case, there are some charitable organisations which can offer financial assistance to eligible families. One example of such a charity is Quaker Social Action who can offer guidance and support on funeral costs. Turn2Us is another organisation which can help you to find and apply for grants which you won’t need to pay back.
Beyond charity and government support, some families find help through crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe and JustGiving. These sites allow you to post a funding project, sharing some context about the person who has died and how the reader can help. You can very easily share the funding request across your social media platforms, such as when you are looking to announce a death to friends, family and the wider community. This gives those who are willing and able to help an easy option.
There’s no sense in shying away from the fact that funerals can be expensive, but, from prepaid funeral plans to budget-friendly funeral options, there are ways to keep funeral costs down.
The beauty of a funeral plan lies in the fact that you lock in current prices. If you were to buy one of Aura’s funeral plans today, even if we don’t need to activate your plan for many years, you’ll have paid today’s prices for your future funeral. Given the rate at which funeral prices seem to rise year-on-year, this is quite a benefit. It gives your family total peace of mind that everything is paid for, as there won’t be anything left to pay when the time comes, and they won’t have to pay out of their own pockets first. Compare Aura funeral plans with other leading providers to make sure that you are getting the best deal for you.
There are lots of ways of arranging a low-cost funeral which focus on the burial or cremation process without including expensive and unnecessary extras. These funerals have all of the dignity of a traditional funeral, without most of the expense. Alternative funerals, offering a non-traditional option to families, are growing in popularity across the UK.
Aside from direct cremation, there are other options, such as burial at sea, water cremation and natural or woodland burial. Many of these options, aside from being unique and different, are cheaper than the traditional option of a fully attended service with all the usual elements. Families can also have an unattended direct cremation – among the very cheapest funeral options out there – and follow it up later with an end-of-life celebration that can be as cost-effective as the family wishes.
There are certain things to bear in mind when it comes to the length of time it can take to access funds intended for funeral expenses.
A funeral cannot proceed without paying having been made, so in the first instance, funeral costs are paid fairly soon before the funeral itself. This may mean that you will need to pay out of your own pocket for funeral costs, particularly if there is no funeral plan in place, or if you are relying on methods that have protracted timeframes for access to money.
When purchasing a funeral plan from Aura for a future funeral, you can either pay all in one go up-front from £1,595, or in 12-to-24 instalments from £66.46. The final price across both options is the same, as we don’t charge an instalment fee. This gives you complete freedom to make the best decision for yourself.
The release of funds from the estate of someone who has died, depending on the circumstances, can take many months. Applying for probate is a legal process which can be disputed by different executors to the will, or other kin of the person who has died, which can lead to long delays. Over-50s life insurance policy providers may request (and in rare cases where there is cause, dispute) information about the person who has died before they are willing to pay out, meaning that it can take a while before the beneficiary sees the money that will be paid out.
If you need to access cash within the bank account of a loved one who has died in order to pay for their funeral, then the length of time needed to achieve this will depend on the bank. More and more these days banks are aiming to provide more caring customer service; in sensitive situations like this, they recognise that they can make our lives easier by giving us access to such funds after we have shared certain pieces of paperwork with them. The process of gaining access to a loved one’s bank account in this way is different from bank to bank, and could take between a few days and a few weeks.
There are common questions which people ask relating to how to pay for funeral expenses. Often, people are worried about what will happen if no-one can pay, and where we can turn to if we need advice.
If nobody can pay for the funeral, for instance, in situations where the person who has died had nobody in their life and they died without a plan in place. Or in situations where the person who has died is leaving behind a family which is unable to afford a funeral for them, then there is a safety-net in place in the UK that provides an option. The local government of the area in which the person has died becomes legally responsible for organising and paying for their funeral. This type of funeral is referred to as a ‘public-health funeral’.
The local government will look to make things as cost-effective as possible. The kind of funeral (cremation or burial / attended or unattended) will depend entirely on the local council, with British families requiring this support currently being entered into something of a post-code lottery for the type and quality of the service provided. In cases where the funeral is a burial, sometimes the grave is unmarked in order to avoid the costly expense of headstone. The public-health funeral aims to preserve the dignity of the person who has died by providing a last-resort funeral at the lowest possible cost to the state.
There’s lots of advice available to families should they need it. At Aura, all of our funeral arrangements are handled by our wonderful Aura Angels. They are our industry-leading, compassionate team of funeral arrangers and they thrive when helping families through the difficult time of making funeral arrangements for a loved one. Not only can they assist with the paperwork, but they can lend you an ear, should you wish to talk about what you’re going through. They can also point you towards useful financial resources. In general, talking to your funeral director about your needs as soon as possible can be very helpful.
Families can also turn to charities such as Cruse Bereavement Support and Sue Ryder. These charities can point us in the direction of useful financial guidance and support, as well as support with coping with grief and bereavement.
We hope that this article has given you some useful information about how to pay for funeral expenses. If you’re currently organising a funeral for a loved one, we want you to feel as reassured and well informed as possible, as we know that this time can be difficult enough as it is.
If you’d like Aura’s help with your funeral arrangements, whether in the immediate future or as part of a prepaid funeral plan for your own funeral in years to come, our Angel team is always ready to take your call.
