The cost-of-dying crisis

FIVE-MINUTE GUIDE TO...RISING FUNERAL COSTS

- Harvey Jones

WHILE the cost of living continues to rise, the cost of dying is increasing at an even faster pace.

The financial burden of saying goodbye has reached an all-time high, with the average cost of a simple attended funeral now £4,285.

That's an increase of 3.5% over the past year, comfortably ahead of consumer price inflation of 2.5% in the year to December, published on Wednesday.

This finding comes in the latest annual SunLife Cost Of Dying report, which has been running for 20 years.

In that time, funeral costs have surged by a punitive 134%, far outpacing the 75% rise in inflation over the same period. There's no escape from today's rocketing costs, even in death.

A simple attended funeral, which includes burial or cremation services, a funeral director, doctor and celebrant fees, a coffin and a limousine cost £1,835 in 2004.

Had prices risen in line with inflation, it would average £3,211 today but instead it is more than £1,000 higher, putting further strain on bereaved families.