One woman’s quest to help families deal with funeral costs
IT’S something that none of us want to think about before it happens, but sooner or later most of us will have to arrange a loved one’s funeral.
When the time comes, most people just want to get it over with and don’t want to worry about how much it is costing.
But with the average price of even a basic funeral coming in at more than £4,000, it’s not surprising that one in seven people go into debt to pay for it, with an average debt of £1,668. In fact, between them Britons amass a total of £160m of funeral debt a year.
As with most things, people could save a lot of money by shopping around, with funeral directors’ costs varying by as much as £2,365 within the same postcode area.
Despite this, only 6% of people get quotes from more than one funeral director and 89% of us go with the first one we contact.
Now one woman is trying to help people save money by providing a comparison site where you can compare the costs of different funeral directors in your area.
Kim Bird set up About the Funeral after years of working in the funeral business and seeing how people depended on their funeral directors.
“When you have to arrange a funeral, you just want to get it all done and for it all to be over as quickly as possible,” she said.
“Many people want a funeral director to do all the work, but you don’t have to – you can do a lot yourself. But most people want the funeral director to do it because it’s too emotional.”
In Wales the average cost of a simple funeral is around £3,500. Threequarters of people opt for cremations, which is perhaps not surprising given that burials cost on average at least £1,000 more.
The website allows you to compare the costs of different funeral directors in your area, but also to see how you can bring the cost down by choosing different packages.
The cost of a funeral is made up of funeral directors’ fees and thirdparty expenses. The funeral directors’ fees cover things like arranging the funeral, looking after the body and supplying the coffin, hearse and staff on the day.
The third-party expenses include such things as cremation or burial fees, paying for a minister or celebrant, flowers, newspaper notices, order of service sheets and the costs of a wake.
The good news is that you can save a lot of money by cutting out some of the unnecessary expenses or doing some things yourself.
Direct cremation, where the body is cremated without a funeral service, can bring the cost down to as little as £1,250.
You can arrange your own memorial service and scatter the ashes somewhere the deceased would have wanted.
According to a YouGov survey, 79% of people who want to be cremated would prefer their ashes to be scattered.
You can also save money by picking a cheaper coffin – either cardboard or wood effect.
Asking friends or family to carry the coffin rather than pallbearers, providing your own flowers and using an estate car rather than a hearse and a minibus rather than limousines are all other ways you can bring the price down.
The wake could be at someone’s house with friends or family providing the food. And it’s worth knowing that some funeral directors give discounts if you pay in advance
You can also compare funeral plans on the website. Funeral plans typically cost between £3,500 and £4,000 and can be a good way to save your family from having to find the money to pay for your funeral after your death.
“Funeral plans get a bad press because they are mis-sold by some unscrupulous resellers who won’t tell you that the plan doesn’t include everything,” said Ms Bird.
Most plans don’t include cremation or burial costs or the costs of a grave. Sometimes the family isn’t aware that not everything is covered, so Ms Bird urges people who take out a plan to make sure they and their family know what’s covered.
There’s also a form on the website which you can download and fill in, which allows you to record the sort of funeral you want and what you want to happen to your remains.
This is something else which could save your family a lot if they know beforehand what you want.
Many people nowadays are opting for different sorts of funerals, from humanist services to “green” burials where their body is laid to rest in woodland.
Ms Bird has recorded an online video series called Alternative Endings, looking at how you can commemorate somebody in different ways. She herself has found an unusual way to remember her father.
“I had my dad’s ashes turned into a glaze and put on a pot. It followed a bizarre conversation with a woman at a craft fair in Cardiff one Christmas, she said she made glazes out of wood ash and I asked if she could use human ash. It came out lovely,” she said.