Horrifying cost of funeral up almost 10%

The average funeral now costs an astonishing £5,693, and the cost of a basic funeral is £3,693. The cost of the extra whistles and bells is £2,000 - up 9.1% since last year - and shows runaway funeral costs are marching ahead of inflation. To add insult to injury, a large proportion of this cash is being wasted on funerals that the deceased never wanted.

The figures come from SunLife, which found that the basic costs were getting out of control. The company has been doing this study every year since 2004, and in that time the average cost of a basic funeral has risen a jaw-dropping 92.3%.

Past studies have suggested that this is the tip of the iceberg. The Baby Boom generation ia starting to reach the kind of age where funerals become a possibility. This is expected to push up the death rate, which is likely to overwhelm the industry, and vastly inflate prices. The International Longevity Centre for OneFamily expects the cost of a basic funeral to reach £5,226 by 2020.

Is it well-spent?

SunLife also asked people what their loved ones had requested before their death, and discovered that 99% of people had left no funeral instructions, so their loves ones are spending thousands with no real idea of whether they are doing the right thing.

Seven out of ten said they didn't know whether the deceased would want their ashes scattered, buried or disposed of, only one in seven knew which coffin to choose and only a third knew the deceased's preferred cemetery or burial ground.

And when it came to the memorial, less than half knew whether to hold a religious or non-religious service and only a quarter knew the music and readings the deceased would have chosen.

SunLife managing director Dean Lamble said: "Our research shows that just 1% of us really know what our loved ones wishes are for their funeral send-off - what flowers, what reading, what music – in fact, almost a third of people are organising funerals without even knowing whether their loved one wanted a burial or cremation.... Many people may be spending this 'extra cash' on the 'wrong' things."

What can you do?

He has called for people to discuss their wishes with their loved ones well in advance. If they are unwilling to do this in person, it's not hard to create a document to be kept with the will outlining any particular requests that are important to you.

Of course, when you're leaving instructions for your funeral, you also need to consider how your loved ones will pay for it. The good news is that most people are doing something about this. Some 59% of people made specific provisions to pay for their funeral, and 84% had made sufficient provision to cover the entire cost - just over a quarter of whom had used a funeral plan.

Among those who had not left enough to cover the funeral, their friends and family had to find an average of £2,449 to cover the shortfall. One in six who had to cover the entire cost themselves said that finding the money had caused them 'notable financial concerns'. Of this group, half had to borrow money - either from friends or relatives, the bank or a loan provider or via a credit card.

But what do you think? Does your funeral matter to you? And do you want a specific kind of funeral, or would you prefer your family to save their money? Let us know in the comments.

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