WHAT COSTS ARE INVOLVED?

Most people adopt the view that they wish to give the deceased a good send-off regardless of cost, but some react differently when they receive the funeral director’s invoice. As this book went to press funeral bills in excess of £2,000 were quite normal and I attended one which cost twice that figure.

Jessica Mitford’s book The American Way of Death Revisited describes the astronomical prices being charged for some funerals on the other side of the Atlantic. Prices in the UK are fairly modest in comparison; even so the cost of dying is not getting any cheaper.

A survey of 100 funeral directors by the insurance company American Life published at the beginning of 2006 revealed that over the past six years funeral costs had increased by 61 per cent. The average burial will now set you back £3,307 and the average cremation £1,954, but there is considerable regional variation.

Let’s have a look at what you are paying for.

First there are the services that the funeral director provides, some of which can be omitted. The most notable are:

• the supply of a coffin
• professional charges (e.g. administration, advice)
• removal and care of body
• provision of a hearse for the funeral
• provision of a limousine for mourners
• coffin bearers
• visits to the chapel of rest
• embalming.

Then there are the services provided by third parties, which are usually described as disbursements. Funeral directors pay these fees on your behalf and add them to their bill. These would include – in the case of a cremation:

• fee to the crematorium for cremation
• fee for funeral service officiant
• cremation certificates
• funeral wreaths or flowers

• press notices
• printed funeral service cards or sheets
• organist’s fees
• verger’s fees (if a church service is held)
• listing of mourners.

If the deceased is to be buried rather than cremated there would be the cost of a burial site, unless there is a family plot available, and a fee for digging the grave.

Some of these services are discretionary. One piece of welcome news is that many of these items are free of Value Added Tax.

In order to avoid nasty surprises you should ask for a fully itemised written estimate from the funeral director before you proceed further. Many funeral directors do this as a matter of course and may well ask you to sign the estimate in order to approve the expenditure.

Remember that an estimate is just an estimate, and if you feel the price is too high, you can negotiate. You could save on costs, for instance, by having a less expensive coffin or cutting out the funeral car for the chief mourners. Once the funeral has taken place you are not in a position to quibble over the payment unless you have a complaint about the way the funeral has been conducted.