🔔 Do you live in the most expensive place to die?

With the cost of dying on the increase, planning ahead can soften the financial blow to your loved ones

It’s a taboo subject really. Who wants to talk about it or even accept that it might happen - but as the saying goes, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Both of which you can budget for, if you plan ahead, but most of us avoid thinking about. The issue is the rising cost of dying, which sounds very blunt - but it’s true. Passing away is an expensive business. In fact, in the last year alone, the average cost has risen from £8,905 to an all-time high of £9,204 (up 3.4%), according to a recent report from SunLife. *

The average cost of a funeral has risen to £4,271 this year, an increase of a 122% since 2004, when SunLife first started tracking funeral expenses. This average price just covers the essential costs, such as the average amount spent on flowers, a wake and professional fees for administering the estate. If you look at the overall average price of a burial in 2018, it’s £9,730. Cremation is slightly less, but still high at £8,677. *

The cost of a funeral is broken down into two main parts, the Funeral Directors Costs and Disbursements (such as doctors fees and clergy or officiate fees) of which Cremation and Burial fees form the largest part.

Separately, you’ve got the cost of a send-off which averages at £2,061 and hiring a professional to administer the estate at £2,872. *

There are also significant regional differences in costs with, unsurprisingly, the most expensive place to die in the UK being London, at an average funeral cost of £5,880. In contrast, the cheapest place is Northern Ireland, where the average funeral costs are £3,231. *
 

⇨ Download your FREE guide to the Dignity Prepaid Funeral Plan
 

So, what can you do? Plan for the inevitable. Many of our readers have already taken action to plan ahead with a pre-paid funeral plan. In our recent article ‘Not all Funeral Plans are the same – make sure your loved ones are protected’, we highlighted the things to look out for when choosing a funeral plan provider.

One of the main problems to look out for are plans that come without guarantees to cover essential costs, which can leave loved ones with unexpected bills to pay  that you may have tried to avoid.  For this reason we recommend you choose a leading provider in the UK that is registered with the Funeral Planning Authority (FPA), the professional body who oversees the conduct of the providers registered with them, which includes our partner - Dignity. It is vital to choose your plan provider wisely and to choose one that you can trust.

Funeral planning is growing in popularity, as more and more people are determined not to leave their loved ones with a financial burden when they pass away. According to a recent item broadcast on the ITV Tonight Programme “Pay now, die later”, 1.35m funeral plans have been sold in the UK, 200,000 plans in the last 12 months alone, with £4.3bn now set aside for a pre-paid funeral.

Planning ahead also gives people the chance to set out from the outset what their wishes might be. Do you want burial or cremation? How will expenses be paid and what sort of service would you like?

It seems our attitudes have also changed over the years, 64% of funeral directors have seen a drop in the number of traditional religious funerals, with 82% seeing an increase in the number of ‘celebration of life’ funerals instead. *

Simon Thexton from Dignity says:

“As funeral preferences change over time, Dignity is using its funeral expertise and heritage to develop and offer to our customers and their families new funeral pre-planning options to suit every budget.  Our customers can also always use their plan to specify those personal touches that are important to everyone”

You may not want to talk about it but setting some money aside now, like a savings account, can make all the difference to your wishes and for your loved ones.

Notes

* Source SunLife Cost of Dying Report 2018 (12th edition)

^ £340 saving is based on the difference between the discounted Diamond plan price of £3,795 and the 2018 plan price of £4,135. Discount is valid until 30th April 2019.

†Purchase of qualifying plan required for entry.  Prize draw competition is open for entries between 17/09/2018 and 20/12/2018. One prize of £10,000 shall be awarded. Open to residents in England, Scotland and Wales only. For full T&Cs please click here.