SunLife’s Cost of Dying Report is in – but is it accurate?

The latest Cost of Dying Report by SunLife, which diligently covered the whole 2023 calendar year, showed that funeral costs only started to return to pre-pandemic levels last year. Having put together all the totals from across the British isles, SunLife found that the average cost of arranging a funeral increased by 4.7% over 2022. 

However, the report also mentioned that this increase was much lower than the predicted 7.5% annual consumer price index (CPI) rate of inflation for 2023. As the National Association of Funeral Directors put it, the fact that the average cost isn’t nearly as expensive as it could be demonstrates that “funeral directors continue to keep bereaved consumers at the forefront of their minds”. 

While the association praised the industry’s ability to keep prices as low as possible for grieving families, it also noted how funeral services have struggled to shoulder the costs to provide funeral arrangements at these prices, as 2023 was yet another year of rising energy bills and increasing staff costs. 

An interesting part of the report was its claim that direct cremations represented one in five – or 20% – of all funerals in the UK last year. The NAFD confirmed that this statistic is significantly higher than the consistent 11% to 12% reported by its 4,100 funeral home members along with data gathered by The Cremation Society from crematoria across the country. 

The NAFD  believes this high statistic illustrates the misunderstanding people often have about what a direct cremation actually is, saying: “A direct cremation is a completely unattended funeral, where there is no funeral service and no involvement by mourners – the body is collected from the mortuary, cremated without witnesses and the ashes are returned to the family if requested. Many of those funerals being labelled as direct cremations are actually simple funeral services”.

However, Distinct Cremations revealed that over half of its funeral plan customers are choosing the option of simpler, low-cost funerals, in light of SunLife’s latest report. 

Steve Wallis, MD of Distinct Cremations, says: “The trend for direct cremations is increasing year-on-year, with families increasingly choosing a lower cost farewell that is less stressful and more readily personalised. The average cost of direct cremations has dropped once again and is now at £1,498. The only funeral type that costs almost the same as in 2022.

“It comes at a time when a record number of families struggled with funeral costs last year, as high inflation increased prices and many fell into debt to cover the cost.”

The survey also revealed 10% more people are now choosing a simpler direct cremation, most to save money, but many seeing it as an option to ease stress at an emotional time.

“The growth of simpler, low-cost direct cremations can really be seen by the number of people choosing in advance through pre-paid funeral plans,” Wallis adds. He also points out that the funeral plan market, which has been strictly regulated by the FCA since new legislation came into force in 2022, is now growing again. 

The Financial Conduct Authority now provides consumers a list of regulated plan providers and the National Association of Funeral Plan Providers which only regulated plan providers can join. To that, Wallis says: “Plan providers now operate to much higher standards with far tighter financial controls. People are now protected by the FCA’s compensation scheme, which gives peace of mind.”

That said, the NAFD did agree that a majority of Britons are still not planning ahead, as the report showed that the experience of two thirds of those who had arranged a funeral was that knowing a loved one’s wishes “could have made arrangements less stressful”. Yet, the report showed that only one in four have had that conversation.

A spokesperson from the NAFD says: “Finding a balance between having your own wishes carried out and enabling those who will miss you to say goodbye, in the way they would want to, is important. We’ve seen from the pandemic restrictions how distressing it is when that choice is taken away.”

Amended for correction 29/01/24