84% of respondents admit that they have made no preparations towards their own funeral.
It has been discovered that only 14% of those asked believed they would be financially prepared for the cost of a loved one’s funeral.
Shockingly 99% of those who responded to the survey confessed that they have made no financial preparations towards their own funeral. With only 36% saying that their immediate family know of their wishes for their funeral.
For the fifteenth year in a row, the £2bn industry has seen a price rise, adding up to a 112% increase since 2004 resulting in 4 million people in the UK experiencing financial hardship as a result of someone’s death.
The UK funeral industry has come under fire in recent years after it was exposed that no licensing regimes or restrictions are in place to monitor those operating as funeral directors in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. This lack of control has allowed funeral directors to increase their fees at an alarming rate. To put this increase into perspective, property prices have risen at a third of the rate of funeral costs.
Blame for this increase has repeatedly been placed on Government cuts to local authority budgets, however, David Waters, from Waters & Sons Funeral Directors in Southampton says he feels that it is chain groups such as Co-operative Funeralcare that suffocate the market, causing independent directors to increase their prices.
The average price of a funeral in the UK now stands at £4,271, the figure reported in the 2018 Sunlife Cost of Dying Report. This has led to outrage from Shadow Minister for Education and Children & Families, Emma Lewell-Buck, who has been challenging the unregulated market for several years. “It has been revealed recently that people are increasingly turning to crowd- funding websites to raise money for funerals, with Just Giving showing a 400% increase in people asking for money from friends, families and strangers to fund funerals for their loved ones. I cannot imagine having to seek support from strangers on a faceless website to pay for a loved one’s funeral.”
James Keen from A.H Freemantle Funeral Directors maintains that in the case where a family has no money that there are a few options still open to them. “Firstly, they can approach the council for help. This is traditionally called a pauper’s funeral but has been renamed Public Health Funeral. We typically meet anyone who wants to attend the funeral at the crematorium or cemetery and I say a few words. Secondly, they can download an SF200 form from the government website to apply for aid. It’s a bit of a minefield and it depends on any benefits they are already receiving. This will cover most of the fees for a simple funeral but typically falls short of most funeral director’s fees. We may undertake to cover some of these costs on the client’s behalf, and we decide this on a case by case basis”.
Although people are increasingly shopping around the funeral sector in hope of finding the best that they can for a loved one, more and more families are having to wait to secure a payment from the Department of Work and Pensions before they are able to make any formal arrangements. “This process can often take weeks or months depending on the circumstances. This payment in the past was sufficient in covering the cost of a basic funeral, however, now it only covers around a third of the cost,” says Ishbel Gall from the Association of Anatomical Pathology Technology.
Philip Clayton worked as an undertaker for fifteen years, leaving the industry last year after feeling that it had become more about profit than respect for the deceased. “Everything is commercialised, businesses cotton on to the money that can be made and they just keep pushing up the cost, it never seems to be about dignity or respect, just profit. It’s awful”. Mr. Clayton was distressed about the running of many crematoriums that he had visited for his work, “It’s like a factory, they’re putting bodies through every fifteen minutes, practically a conveyor belt. If you imagine that, from 9 o’clock in the morning until five in the evening, times that by whatever sum of money they are demanding and that’s how much these companies are making every day”.
Rosie Inman-Cook, manager of the Natural Death Charity referred to the current situation as a ‘national disgrace’, as the charity calls for a rethink towards the way Britain handles death. “The reality is that within the funeral industry there are juggernaut firms committed to feeding share-holders and venture capitalists at the expense of the customer, where the most vulnerable are often subjected to hard sell tactics and robbed of dignity”.
As a result of an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority, the watchdog has granted that the price rises for both funeral directors and crematoria services do not appear to be justified. Chief Executive, Andre Coselli expressed that, “people mourning the loss of a loved one are extremely vulnerable and at risk of being exploited. We need to make sure they are protected at such an emotional time, and we’re very concerned about the substantial increases in funeral prices over the past decade”.
An alternative to the traditional funeral that is becoming more popular is the option of a direct cremation. Opting for this choice is becoming a more suitable send-off for many families’ due to the low cost involved. The nature of direct cremations allows families to have more freedom when planning the memorial that they want, without the constraints of price and availability.
Alison Stefanec’s husband, Martin, passed away last year after being diagnosed with Motor neuron disease. Upon discovering his time was limited, the family began to discuss funeral plans. Speaking to Alison she explained that, “…when someone is ill and you know they are going to die, you have a bit longer to think about these things and discuss them”.
“Martin wanted something that felt personal and private and we realised that you just can’t have that on a budget. There were all of these standard packages where you’re forced into this coffin or this car or into using these flowers and all you do is fill in your name and someone else changes the words in the middle to make it sound like you and to us it seemed a ridiculous amount to pay for something that is almost inhuman”.
After looking over many options, Alison and Martin both agreed that a direct cremation would be the most appropriate choice as they were both spiritualists and planning on a tight budget. Looking back, Alison says that she believes they definitely made the right decision, “I would recommend direct cremation to anyone, the beauty of it is once the ashes are returned to you, you’re free to create whatever kind of celebration that you want. We made sure that Martin’s memorial suited us perfectly, the day was exactly the way he had spoken about it being”.
When scouring the internet for help in planning a funeral, it is hard to miss ‘The Good Funeral Guide’, a not-for-profit company who are independent from the funeral industry. The GFG say they are dedicated to supporting, empowering and representing the interests of dying and bereaved people living in the UK. On their website, you can find a recommended directory of funeral companies in the UK of which GFG have personally visited and accredited. There is also a factual guide on the legal rights and responsibilities you are entitled to when planning a funeral.
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