Simple funeral costs

Surfer

My father wants a funeral the cheapest possible way as he has very little savings and we have none as we are on Pension Credit. All he wants is to be picked up and sent to the crematorium.
He does not want a hearse, an eulogy, music or anything as he is not religious and doesn't want some minister sprouting on about what a wonderful person he was in life.
I am not even sure if we could follow his wishes, however our main concern is arranging the cheapest possible funeral. We think paying £2000 is way over the top for a simple funeral. Can any one advise? Thanks.

Jenny.W

I'm sure there are ways to do this a bit more cheaply but I'm not sure how you'd manage without a hearse?

I know your father doesn't want a fuss made with a service but would there not be friends and family wishing to pay their respects?

You may find this section on the forum more helpful:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=217

torbrex

Have you looked at this site to get some ideas on how to possibly reduce costs.
A basic cremation seems to come in at under £600 and may be lower locally to you, I read somewhere that if you are on a low income, help with costs are available.
It would be worth going to a local funeral parlour/crematorium and asking for a basic price then you could work out what extras you want to add to it.

ETA
See also this site about keeping costs down and payments from the social fund.

Surfer

Jenny.W wrote: »

I'm sure there are ways to do this a bit more cheaply but I'm not sure how you'd manage without a hearse?

I know your father doesn't want a fuss made with a service but would there not be friends and family wishing to pay their respects?

You may find this section on the forum more helpful:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=217

We are his only relatives in the UK and as he only came back here about 6 years ago hardly has any friends. Thanks for the link. I have now posted my query there.

heavenleigh

Have no idea about costs i'm afraid but you don't have to have a deeply religious ceremony, my granddad died this year and he was a grumpy old !!!!! (still loved him though) and the service from the Minister (Scotland) was a humerus one about what he did and how stubourn he was. As for music for the service etc i dont think you pay extra for that, the biggest cost will be for the coffin and he will need a hearse to transport it but you won't need the other (family) cars if you don't want them xx

Loanranger

heavenleigh wrote: »

Have no idea about costs i'm afraid but you don't have to have a deeply religious ceremony, my granddad died this year and he was a grumpy old !!!!! (still loved him though) and the service from the Minister (Scotland) was a humerus one about what he did and how stubourn he was. As for music for the service etc i dont think you pay extra for that, the biggest cost will be for the coffin and he will need a hearse to transport it but you won't need the other (family) cars if you don't want them xx

I don't think the biggest cost is the coffin, more like the biggest cost is to the crematorium for the cost of disposal and that is a fixed cost that cannot be negotiated down. If I remember correctly, it's about 600 pounds to the crem but someone more knowledgeable will be along to correct me if I'm wrong.

Surfer

Thanks. Not the best thing to be discussing at this time of the year, but he is starting to look frail. We have also lost 2 good friends in the last 2 months with one passing away just before Xmas so this is now in the forefront of our minds, both for him and us.
I have started similar thread at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/58166337#Comment_58166337 as I think it is a more appropriate forum?

tori.k

we had a very very simple funeral for my FIL as he wished it came to £1800 that was just director services, coffin, hearse & crem fee's and one flower cross, we just had his favourite piece of music played there was no service as there was only 3 of us in attendance. FIL passed away at home, there is also doctors fees payable on a hospital death. it's not a cheap affair but the director was worth his weight in gold at a really difficult time.

Seakay

how about a cardboard coffin which can be decorated by you in any way that your father likes? Often sold for eco funerals but not limited to these. It could be painted, covered in photos, whatever he likes.

JayJay14

My brother's funeral earlier this month had an 'eco' coffin, it apparently cost more than an oak one so beware.

You don't need a hearse, Bro went to his eternal rest in the back of a friends white transit van (he planned this in detail as he spent much of his youth travelling in one playing gigs ) We didn't have funeral cars either, we had London black cabs.

jools27_2

tori.k wrote: »

we had a very very simple funeral for my FIL as he wished it came to £1800 that was just director services, coffin, hearse & crem fee's and one flower cross, we just had his favourite piece of music played there was no service as there was only 3 of us in attendance. FIL passed away at home, there is also doctors fees payable on a hospital death. it's not a cheap affair but the director was worth his weight in gold at a really difficult time.

There are doctors fees for a cremation certificate no matter where the death occurs!