A recent 2022 Cost of Dying report carried out by life insurance provider SunLife discovered that one in six families across the UK faced significant financial worries over the cost of funerals during the last year.
This has driven families to choose cheaper coffins and memorial services, spend less on flowers and seek more affordable memorials to honour their loved ones without falling into serious financial trouble.
Cremation fees alone are topping £1,000 in some areas.
Crematoriums Pass on Rising Costs
Just like companies across all sectors, crematoriums are faced with rising costs, and this means they have to pass the increase on to customers in order to remain in business.
Since the end of 2021, the average cremation price has increased by £20 to £867.75 which doesn’t sound like any cause for concern, but increases are very location specific and some providers in certain areas have been forced to increase the price of their services by more than £100 – and further rises in the near future are predicted.
Seven Areas See Basic Cremation Costs Top £1,000
In January 2022, seven areas of the UK saw the cost of a basic cremation top £1,000 – these were Thatcham in West Berkshire, Westerleigh in Bristol, Peterborough, Torquay, Basildon, plus Friockheim and Moray in Scotland.
This is alongside other cost increases for many other aspects of a funeral such as venue hire, transportation and flowers.
Examples of other notable cremation service increases in areas of the UK include a rise from £659 to £763 in Bangor, North Wales, and an increase from £793 to £895 in Chelmsford, Essex.
With costs continuing to rise crematoriums are warning customers to brace for a further impending increase as we move towards the final quarter of the year.
Families Seek to Honour Lives in an Affordable Way
Many individuals and families are looking for ways to make a memorial service more affordable or are opting for the cheapest direct cremation options available, which typically bypasses a service altogether and instead allows loved ones to keep or scatter the ashes through their own arrangements.
Families that do opt for a traditional service and burial are still shopping around and looking at how they can cut back on costs by seeking affordable funeral services and coffins.
Being able to honour the life of a loved one is incredibly important for many people, so families are also naturally narrowing down their search to cheaper memorials that are affordable and within their overall funeral budget.
Memorials are so very often an afterthought and tend to be an expense that people address several months down the line, but with so many people now trying to stick within strict budgets it makes a lot of sense to do a little research to see what type of memorial you could select that comfortably fits within the targeted spend.
This foresight can save families from having to find new funds to cover the expense of a memorial in the weeks or months following the funeral.
Almost One Fifth Unaware of Loved Ones Funeral Wishes
Being able to honour the life of a loved one is incredibly important for many people, so families are naturally narrowing down their search to cheaper memorials that are affordable and within their funeral budget.
Commenting on the results from the 2022 Cost of Dying report, SunLife insurance stated that basic cremation services accounted for just 3% of all funerals back in 2019, but this had risen to 18% throughout 2021.
They say that although the average cost of a UK funeral actually fell by 3.1% to £4,056 for the first time on record last year, the majority of those savings came from lower undertakers’ and ministers’ fees.
Mark Screeton, Chief Executive Officer at SunLife, also noted the fact that 19% of people had no idea what their loved one’s funeral wishes were.
He states that one of the best ways to save money is by discussing our own funerals with loved ones and recording our wishes.
Here at C.J. Ball & Son Memorials we pride ourselves on offering a wide range of memorials that offer fantastic value for money so that you can rightly honour your lost loved one no matter your budget. A cheap memorial doesn’t mean accepting a drop in standard as we ensure each and every memorial crafted is done so with skilful craftmanship and quality materials. To discuss your memorial requirements with one of our compassionate family advisors at our Barry memorial branch in South Wales don’t hesitate to book in a consultation by calling 01446 734 607, e-mailing info@cjballmemorials.co.uk or by completing our online contact form.
