The Farewell Guide, a free online service dedicated to making funeral planning simple, affordable and highly-personal, has conducted research which highlights the vast differences in the cost of funerals in London and how this is impacting families.
Analysis of the cost of a standard funeral – which is required by the CMA to be the same service and features across all funeral directors – shows that people are paying far more than they need to for funerals across the capital, and the differences are significant but they don’t even know, as 83% of Brits only source one quote when planning a funeral – why?
The research shows that:
In London, the price varies from £1,060 to £3,715, an increase of over 250%. These two prices can be found less than two miles from each other in Battersea.
In the East London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham – two of the poorest by poverty rates – the price of a standard funeral varied by more than double, between £1,615 and £3,305.
The prices from Funeral Directors serving Kensington and Chelsea varied from £2,140 to £3,335, a difference of over 55%.
While the average household income in Newham is just £23,143 the cost of funerals stands at roughly the same level as Kensington and Chelsea where the average household income is £43,315.
Rebecca Peach, Founder and CEO of The Farewell Guide said:
“The lottery of prices that people are facing is forcing thousands of families every year to pay more than they need to for funerals. Not only do prices vary massively depending on where you live but also which funeral director you choose. This data is shocking but not surprising, no one going through such an immense period of grief wants to spend hours shopping around and it is costing Brits dearly.”
The Farewell Guide research is complimented by the recent Marie Curie and University of Loughborough report which shows that in 2019, 90,000 people in the UK died in poverty, accounting for nearly 15% of all deaths that year. This report also highlighted that Manchester has the highest proportion of pensioners dying in poverty, with 32%; Nottingham also fared poorly at 22%.
The most recent figures from SunLife show the cost of dying in 2021 was £8,864, made worse by the fact that 83% of families only source one quote for the funeral they are planning and 20% are surprised by the cost and options, also found by SunLife. The combination of these statistics paints a bleak picture for Brits with many forced into poverty or unable to afford a funeral.
Peach continued, “Planning a funeral for a loved one is an incredibly difficult process for many people, but it doesn’t need to be this way. Our mission is to provide an online resource that removes as much stress as possible from the process. We want to support people with valuable information and make fair, transparent pricing the industry norm, so that people can focus on the more personal aspects of saying goodbye.”
For every funeral planned through The Farewell Guide platform, £30 will be donated to one of The Farewell Guide’ partner charities, including Hospice UK and Marie Curie.
The Farewell Guide’ funeral planning service also allows consumers to request donations to charity in lieu of flowers or other gifts at their funeral services, allowing people to give back through the service. To date, the platform has seen 80% of families opting for charitable donations to be made in their name over receiving flowers.
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