Why do funerals cost so much money

[Frickssake]

Read recently that a standard funeral can cost upwards of 3k, cremation not being much cheaper. I know you can pay for a funeral plan etc but 3k plus! I'm off to look if there's a cheaper way when I go!

We’ve recently had my MIL’s funeral - that was £4.5k... and that was cheap!!!!!!!!! And obviously no wake either

They can be very expensive and I’m sure there are ways to minimise the cost but I think when FIL past away I realised actually just how much is involved and what the funeral directors actually do as part of the process (they were amazing by the way) so I guess for me you’re paying for a certain level of service that removes the stress of organising things.

FIL had bought and paid for a funeral plan so for DH apart from registering the death and telling people when the funeral was everything was all in hand and they pretty much did everything

Sadly we've had to arrange two funerals in the last month. Both came in at £4k and there were no bells & whistles etc. Would have been an awful lot more if we'd been paying for cars, wake etc.

Well, the funerals in East Enders always cost at least £10k. I don't think the horse drawn carriage is cheap.

I think it's also about £500 to have the funeral live streamed these days.

Its a service and the people doing it need to get paid. If you add up all the details I'm sure you will see why.

What is the breakdown of the cost please if you don’t mind sharing it ?

Even coffins are expensive. The cheapest one was £700 in the catalogue when I last sorted a funeral!

Must admit I’m tempted by the idea of a funerals plan but what if you pay the money and the funeral director goes bust?

My dad's funeral cost about £3.5k and it was worth every penny to be honest. The funeral directors dealt with everything, they treated him with dignity, they took him away, made him look peaceful, brought him back home for the wake, took him to the church for the funeral service, then obviously from the church to the graveyard and buried him. There were three of them involved at each stage, that's quite a lot of staff costs. Then there were the flowers, the coffin, the embalming etc. It seems like a fair price.

We went for the cheapest options for DM and it was still 4k.

Direct cremation is about a grand, that's what I'd want

My mum says one of the reasons she wants to be cremated is so that ridiculous amounts of money aren't spent on something so trivial

Really?! Gosh I am shocked. For people who know, rough ballpark how many thousands would you expect a funeral in a chapel, two funeral cars and a burial to cost? And a wake for 50 people in a local hotel?

There are obviously various costs involved, but its also quite a profitable business.

Out of interest who usually pays for the funeral? I’m very low contact with my horrible Dad for lots of reasons and there’s no way I’d be forking out for his funeral but I’m also his only family member and I doubt he has any money saved for it.

My dad has signed up with a University to donate his body for med students to use. When he goes we have a number to call so that they can collect him. He is very much of the opinion that his body was just the container that he lived in and isn't needed, we can mark and mourn his death in another way.

@Covidcovid

Even coffins are expensive. The cheapest one was £700 in the catalogue when I last sorted a funeral!

Must admit I’m tempted by the idea of a funerals plan but what if you pay the money and the funeral director goes bust?

Funeral plans are generally through a provider (Golden Charter etc) rather than the funeral provider themselves.

In many cases it’s big business now, so of course out to make as much money as possible.
When I arranged my DM’s I used a local family firm, not one of those that come under some gigantic, probably American, corporate umbrella.

I wouldn’t say it was cheap, but it seemed reasonable enough.
Ditto when we helped a friend in another part of the country arrange her dh’s funeral - local family firm.

@Chasingsquirrels

There are obviously various costs involved, but its also quite a profitable business.

This is true. One of the wealthiest people I know is a funeral director. He's also horrible and I wouldn't use his services unless there was no alternative! But funeral directors often have other linked businesses too, such as florists, limousine hire, maybe even bus hire etc, so all in all it can be very profitable for the owner.

Im clueless about this. If you are getting a burial do you need to pay extra for the burial plot?
My parents have just told me they've sorted their funeral plan out..

@Turnedouttoes

Out of interest who usually pays for the funeral? I’m very low contact with my horrible Dad for lots of reasons and there’s no way I’d be forking out for his funeral but I’m also his only family member and I doubt he has any money saved for it.

Whoever arranges it pays for it. And no one can force you to arrange a funeral for someone.

This is true. One of the wealthiest people I know is a funeral director. He's also horrible
The ones I know are lovely people.

Not a job I'd want to do though, not the dead body side so much but the on-call part.

@SpeckledyHen Breakdown...

Arrangement services etc £800
Care of deceased £370
Coffin £550
Hearse £250
Funerary staff on day etc £830
Order of service £69
Flowers £75
Doctors fee £82
Crem fee £778

You can do direct cremation which is cheaper, there is also a movement towards organising funerals yourself - for example embalming is not absolutely necessary for a cremation, especially if the body isn't going to be viewed. You can transport the body yourself, view the body at your home, I don't think you even need a coffin with handles (they're ornamental anyway) just needs to be compatible with the furnace.

I suppose it really depends what state people are in when you go and how much they'll be able to do - I know I was bamboozled when my mum passed suddenly, so it was a relief she planned (and paid) for it beforehand and I knew her preference on music and readings (pre selected by her) and flowers ( waste of money, buy ones you can enjoy!).

DM passed away 2 years ago - she was cremated, no church service though our local priest did officiate at the crematorium. We only had the hearse and a wake for 40 at the chapel hall, tea, sandwiches etc and it was £3700- We did look at having 2 cars and a wake at the local hotel for 40 people but it was going to be £5500. It wasn't what she would have wanted so we went with the smaller option.

@MindGrapes

Im clueless about this. If you are getting a burial do you need to pay extra for the burial plot? My parents have just told me they've sorted their funeral plan out..

You have to pay to open the grave. If it is a new grave you have to buy the plot in the cemetery as well, but then that plot can have maybe four people in it over the years, and is just reopened each time.