Funeral costs ?

dieselhead

I'm afraid I can only give the information secondhand and my mother and grandfather organised everything however my grandmother died a couple of months ago and after the formalities of getting the death certificate and registering the death, the formalities must be done in a certain order, which you are advised of, the funeral directors take care of everything else. We used the coop too and they were just amazing, nothing was too much trouble and the whole day went so smoothly. We had to do nothing we were shepherded around and looked after every step of the way. There was no false emotion just a lot of dignity and respect.

I believe that the cost was just under £3000 inc flowers which I believe was supposed to be quite basic but to be honest I couldnt really see what more we could have asked for.

Oldernotwiser

I think that you need to be assertive if you want to avoid paying unnecessary money.

When my parents died (separately) I asked for the cheapest coffin ("simplest" is a good word to use if you're embarrassed about using the word "cheap"), only one car for close family, bunches of flowers rather than wreaths and a few people back to the house for a buffet and drinks. Personally, I find all the Books of Remembrance/rose bushes etc tacky and announcements in the paper a bit pointless.

It was a while ago now so prices wouldn't be relevant but they were dignified occasions and wouldn't have been improved by throwing money at them.

hothothot_3

when we received a rather large estate, in order to make sure we kept as much as possible of our investment (after years of taking care of gran) we asked the funeral director just to make it as cheap as possible, nothing fancy. Was shocked that the cheapest was going to be nearly 2grand!!!! Resorted to getting our own flowers (moneysaving but also more personal than M&S style), and a polish carpenter made a very nice casket out of some MDF, which was laquered. The finish result was excellent, and when compared from a distance was hardly noticeable as different from the 2k set up. I recommend getting funeral insurance, as you wont notice such a big bill when you only pay a small premium per month.

Gandalf2u

sorry to hear of your loss as you say Funerals cost 2-3 grand + I have to say a lot depends on your individual circustances, quite a few older gereration plan for there dimise, however as most have said in replys best to shop around if cost is a major consideration, buying flowers that say for example DAD will cost a lot more than a simple Bouquet there are aslo costs people dont think about like you have to register the death and its likely you will require several copies of this.

remember to check for insurance cover with your insurance group, aslo the way someone dies can have affects on finances accidents etc, do look into it by checking online for what to do after someone dies

Shelldean

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I think that you need to be assertive if you want to avoid paying unnecessary money.

When my parents died (separately) I asked for the cheapest coffin ("simplest" is a good word to use if you're embarrassed about using the word "cheap"), only one car for close family, bunches of flowers rather than wreaths and a few people back to the house for a buffet and drinks. Personally, I find all the Books of Remembrance/rose bushes etc tacky and announcements in the paper a bit pointless.

It was a while ago now so prices wouldn't be relevant but they were dignified occasions and wouldn't have been improved by throwing money at them.

We was lucky when Nan died, almost 3 yrs ago, the funeral director was brilliant. I really wanted a big send off for Nan. But the funeral director talked me out of it, and I wanted horse and acarriage the works etc. but we ended up with a normal car plus one for family. I did put my foot down and refused to have the simlest coffin - I just couldn;t do it I know it didn't matter to Nan but it did to me. Nans funeral wasn't that expensive either .... will ahve to dig receipt out
we used a local firm that had dealt with sevral generations of our family

Errata

Well, I wasn't embarrassed to use the word cheap to the undertaker for the two funerals I organised in two years.
Cheapest coffin, no embalming (ugh), hearse, no car(s) for mourners, donations to a charity in lieu of flowers, pub opposite the crematorium for anyone in need of a stiff drink before or after, no plaque at the crem. That's it really.
The only thing I would suggest is whoever registers the death buys twice as many copies of the death cert as they think will be needed. They are printed out with the original, cheap to buy at the time and more expensive at a later date

squibbs25

My step dad asked if we would all lay a single flower on his coffin during his service rather than have large floral tributes, or donations to our local hospice in his memory.
Personally the single flower suggestion was the loveliest thing we could have done, it was very dignified, just like the man himself.

Savvy_Sue

The_Banker wrote: »

The Flowers/Wreaths are an absolute fortune. (much more than normal flowers)

Only a few will cost more than the coffin itself.

Not in my very recent experience, so I suspect it depends on where you get them from. In our case, the undertaker suggested getting them ourselves rather than through him, and I think Mum paid £35 for hers, and from the children and grandchildren (simple bouquet and trug which Mum can plant out later) we paid only £60. OK, not cheap, but tasteful.

I think it gets pricey if you want 'Granddad' spelled out in his football team colours long the roof of the hearse.

beverleyhills wrote: »

Extra cars for the mourners.

Yup, they increase the bill: we had one just to get immediately family from the church to the crem and back, if the hearse had come to the house with a car before the church service it would have doubled the cost, not to mention the pollution.

Knowing how many will come to the tea and cakes afterwards is a bit of a black art, but we judged ours well.

Purpletopaz

Hi, I sadley had to do this for my mum this year, we had to go cheap! But Thats what she would have wanted anyway, We opted for a cardboard coffin ( sounds terrible?) But it had a pine normal looking sleeve enclosing it , noone except my sister and I knew ( and our hubbies ) Looked like a normal coffin, carried in the crem the same way. it was after the coffin went through the curtains that the outer sleeve was removed. I think this is perfectly acceptable, its ECO and the cost of coffins is rediculous

We had no cars and no flowers as such ( we bought a Grand Prix rose each from the grandchildren and fresias from ourselves which I placed on the coffin, was £17, We also had a photo of mum in a photo frame which i placed on the coffin and this looked really nice) I also did 2 readings and we had a civil celebrant. We had a collection plate in luie of flowers. Very short message in paper, It came to £1850.

We had thought out the music and what i wanted to say for myself and sister and the civil life celebrant was fantasic she came to see us before and took loads of info about mums life.
funerals are never nice but Many people came to us after and said it was the nicest and most personal service they had ever been too. ( only close family came back to mums house and we had a bit of food and drink ) I then took my mums flowers to put on my Nans grave. ( she died this year also and was buried with my grandad her funeral was 3500, and the plot and headstone was already paid for )

Also the FD said if we paid before the funeral he would gives us a bit of discount I think it was about £100 so its worth asking .

Just a note, The civil life celebrant told us when we first met with her ( My mum didnt want a funeral but we had family who had to say goodbye to her and we had already booked it ) That The body could have been creamted alone, with no service and then she could have facilitated a service in mums home once we had the ashes, or wherever we had wanted, wish we had known this before as i think this would have been a nice idea too.

SiannieLaz

Hi there,
I work in the industry and the approx costs are as follows:
Basic funeral £1600 - £2000
Limousines - £100+ each
Burial fees - up to £2500 including plot and internment
or
Crematorium fees - range from £340 - £650, although some crematoriums have a cheaper rate if it takes place first thing in the morning - will include organist
Minster's fees - £120 - £150 depending on whether C of E, celebrant or humanist
Church fees - up to £250 including organist, verger, minister's fee and cost of church
Doctors fees £147.00 (cremation only) - payable unless coroner is involved, even if deceased died in hospital

With regard to orders of service, you are looking at £150+ so I would recommend doing them yourself, or asking friend/family member - printer quality is so good these days.

people often go for family flowers only nowdays and ask for mourners to make donations to a chosen charity instead.

A cardboard coffin is NOT always cheaper - our range starts at £2800. Also, get in touch with DWP, if the next of kin receive any benefits, they are entitled to the fees and disbursements (cost of crematorium, doctors fees, ministers fees) and £700 towards all other costs. Please note that if your funeral director knows you are claiming, they will probably ask for all the money up front. Otherwise, usually a deposit is taken first (fees & disbursements).

Under no circumstances let the funeral director talk you into anything you are not sure of - it is entirely your decision what you want.
Good luck