Cost of dying sparks protest
On a busy street in New Plymouth, a portrait of a dead woman sits in front of a skeleton.
It is Thursday and Dave Devenport, ‘‘a jack of all trades and a master of none’’, has been there since midnight.
It is the first protest he has ever held, and so far it is just him, the skeleton and his dog, Kelly May.
The woman in the picture is Janice Giddy, she was Dave’s partner and died in 2018, ‘‘a lovely, lovely woman’’, Dave says.
But it was her death – or at least the cost of it – that has sparked Dave’s protest.
‘‘You come here with nothing, and it costs you a bloody fortune to go out,’’ Dave says.
While the cost of living has rocketed in recent years, so too has the cost of death.
The price of a funeral varies depending on what you want and where you get it from.
One Christchurch-based funeral home that advertises its prices online ranges from $6321 for a casket and ‘‘professional service fees’’ to more than $20,000 for everything from a hearse to a photographic tribute to catering.
A 2019 Ministry of Health report put the average price at $8000-$10,000, saying funerals were ‘‘often the third most expensive purchase that many people will ever make after a house and car’’.
A funeral, as we know it, consists of more than a burial or cremation. There is also the cost of embalming, flowers, transportation, the service venue, a wake, funeral notices and service sheet.
A survey of 17 councils earlier this year shows the average cost of a burial (plot and interment) is now $4038 – up 9% in two years.
In New Plymouth, expect to pay $4163 for a burial plot and $2389 for an interment fee – $6552 all up.
South Taranaki charges $1678 for a burial site and $1843 for interment – $3521 all up. Stratford sits in the middle at $2200 for a site and $1500 for interment, bringing the total cost to $3700. In Auckland’s Manukau and Waikumete the cost is $5600. At the other end of the scale, it is $1150 in Taupo and $2075 in the Far North.
Things get cheaper with a cremation – you will pay $2537 for a cremation plot, ash interment fees and cremation in New Plymouth, while in South Taranaki you will pay $1659 for just the plot and internment. Stratford District Council does not list separate fees for cremation plots on its website.
Wrapping up an estate is another cost many Kiwis might not take into account. Janice Giddy had her will with Public Trust, the building Dave parked his ute and trailer in front of during his protest. According to Dave, the cost to wind up Janice’s estate was $9500, which he thinks is outrageous given he is the only beneficiary.
Public Trust chief executive Glenys Talivai was unable to confirm the costs of administering Giddy’s estate but said in an email the trust’s charges were based on a range of set fees and hourly charges ‘‘. . . which are calculated on the amount of time it takes us to complete the process of administering an estate.
‘‘Even for estates that are more straightforward to administer, this can take longer than people may expect due to complex processes such as selling properties and managing overseas assets, which take time and expertise.’’ Talivai said Public Trust was careful to stay in close contact with all estate beneficiaries throughout the administration process and was clear on the fees and charges throughout. Talivai provided a list of Public Trust’s charges, with hourly rates for estate conveyancing ranging from $220 per hour to $385 per hour.
Mike Aro, manager of New Plymouth’s Vospers Funeral Home, said the industry had felt the effects of inflation and supply chain issues.
‘‘The cost of providing caskets has increased hugely in the past year and a half or two years with Covid supply issues.’’ Most funeral director fees were an amalgamation of everything from catering to flowers, to council fees, Aro said, and when these went up, so too did the cost of a funeral.
But there are ways to help pay for a funeral for those struggling.
Work and Income offers a funeral grant of up to $2280 if the estate of the person who died can’t pay; and when the deceased dies from an injury covered by ACC, the agency can pay a grant of up to $7024 to help with funeral or memorial costs, one-off payments and loss of income.
Aro said the key was to talk with the funeral director. ‘‘Most directors are only too happy to have the discussion for a monetary consideration to be taken into account, we are happy to accommodate whatever wishes or constraints that you might have; noone wants to give a person an invoice that they can’t cope with.’’