Undertakers ‘ripping off the grieving’
GRIEVING families are being ripped off by leading funeral care companies, a watchdog has found.
The Competition and Markets Authority has been investigating the £2billion-a-year UK funeral market over the past six months.
The inquiry was launched to discover why funeral costs have soared by two-thirds in the past 10 years and become unaffordable to many struggling families.
The damning report showed that market leaders are charging vulnerable customers over the odds with the average costs of funerals at major chains such as Co-op Funeralcare 10 per cent higher than at an independent business.
The average cost of a funeral at an independent run business is £3,550 compared with around £3,900 at a large corporate provider in the same area. The cost for funerals without additional burial or cremation costs at an independent firm is £2,260 compared with £2,800 at a large corporate provider.
James Daley, managing director of Fairer Finance, welcomed the report.
He said: “This is a market where customers can be incredibly vulnerable – and it’s astonishing that it’s completely escaped any kind of regulation up until this point.
“The complexity and lack of transparency in the sector mean that many people pay far too much for funerals – and often there’s no link between price and quality.”
Research found that customers could easily save more than £1,000 on a funeral by shopping around in their area. However, the report pointed out that many are often too distressed to make comparisons, enabling funeral directors to take advantage.
Crematoria costs are a major factor in pushing up the costs of funerals, the report noted, with fees rising by 84 per cent in the past 10 years. Around 77 per cent of funerals are cremations.
The massive rise in fees has been blamed mainly on cuts to local authority budgets.
While many people make provisions for their own memorial service in their will, families often have to make up the shortfall and on average have to scramble together an extra £2,550 to cover costs.
The report also highlighted that the average spend on a funeral varies little by household income, which means that the poorest are disproportionately affected by funeral costs.