To think funerals are outrageously expensive?

[crunchymint]

I have been shocked when organising a funeral at how expensive they are. Even a basic cremation with no service costs a £1000. A very ordinary funeral will cost about £3,000. It is a lot of money.

*Puzzledandpissedoff
I work for co-op funeral care and yes we take the deceased to our ‘hub’ where we have mortuary facilities to embalm, dress and rest them in their coffin. We then take them to the individual branches for them to rest in the chapel.
This is due to space at the hub and suitable facilities to embalm and prepare the deceased which individual branches dont always have.
I would say this is normal practice and we always advise our clients of this so they know where their loved one will be resting at all times.
With regards to embalming, it is not a ‘con’ - it is a process which does usually massively slow down decomposition of the deceased. It does often make a massive difference if people want to visit the deceased and particularly means you can visit up until the funeral. It is however not an exact science and some deceased do deteriorate quicker than others (often particularly if they have been ill for a long time and endured a lot of treatment). We would always recommend embalming but would not force people to have it and it certainly isn’t just a way of us making more money. I have seen a huge number of deceased and usually the difference to someone who is embalmed to someone who hasn’t been is very obvious.

Thanks for that, Toby. The chain I referred to in my own post is a family owned one, but I'd often wondered if such as the Co-op had a sort of "central facility" too

Thank you Toby
My father died very unexpectedly so there was a 3 week delay before his funeral whilst various processes took place.

He was looked after during that time at the Funeral Directors, and family members were able to visit him in their chapel.

Lots of management of his condition / appearance required, and on every visit he was brought into their chapel and someone on hand to look after us ❤️

All of this understandably costs

@NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1 please don't spread nonsense like there's a paupers grave. There is no such thing. If someone dies then they are cremated and the council foot the bill...a funeral director in every city has the contract for such and they are normally done first thing in the morning. I know as I used to carry these out.

please don't spread nonsense like there's a paupers grave. There is no such thing. If someone dies then they are cremated and the council foot the bill...a funeral director in every city has the contract for such and they are normally done first thing in the morning. I know as I used to carry these out

She's right, you're wrong. Public health funerals can be cremation OR burial, if burial then it will normally be a communal grave.

The thing is, the undertaker takes a lot of the hassle of organising off your shoulders. If you’re organising a funeral for the first time, you may not have a clue what you have to do. An undertaker will guide you through the whole process.

I helped my best friend pay for her mum’s funeral last year. Her mum had been ill for a lot of tears, and my friend a student. Her mum left debt, and a joint tenancy in a council flat. My friend was an only child, as was her mum. No Dad either.

It was just under £2k. We did almost everything ourselves- flowers, drove people, baked at another friend’s place for the tea, etc. It was the cheapest coffin, a collection from hospital, a hearse, and a cremation. We paid for it between 6 of us, because alcoholic cancer patients don’t tend to leave lots of cash, or keep up the payments on life insurance.....

I’ve asked my parents to put £1k aside in cash in a secret place, in case we ever end up with an unexpected death of one of them, and we’re skint at the time! Morbidly practical....

dm has no funeral plan but plenty costly funeral ideas. We had this discussion with my siblings about the cost should it arise (obviously i dont want dm to die anytime soon) but I made clear I wasnt spending any of my money on it (siblings were slightly aghast but none of them have the money to pay for a funeral and just assumed i would foot the bill). We would apply for local authority funding (I have done this a few time for other people through my work and is is difficult, and the LA will try and guilt next of kin into paying, presumably because funds are tight). I have already said to dh that when i go, give me the cheapest possible choice, and have joked about dumping my body out at sea or bottom of the garden. imo Ill be dead so I wont care what happens to my body. I dont want him wasting our hard earned cash on what I consider a frivolity.

HollaHolla what a lovely friend you are ❤️

dm has no funeral plan but plenty costly funeral ideas. We had this discussion with my siblings about the cost should it arise (obviously i dont want dm to die anytime soon) but I made clear I wasnt spending any of my money on it (siblings were slightly aghast but none of them have the money to pay for a funeral and just assumed i would foot the bill). We would apply for local authority funding (I have done this a few time for other people through my work and is is difficult, and the LA will try and guilt next of kin into paying, presumably because funds are tight).
are you actually serious? the very least you could would be to reimburse the 'stretched for funds' local authority. you don't want to spend your money on your mother's funeral so you feel everyone else should. sheesh