Report critical of pricing transparency in funerals as costs escalate

A newly published report is critical of the failure of the funeral planning sector to be transparent around the cost of funerals, which have risen significantly above the annual rate of inflation.

Pure Cremation’s Cost of Funerals research calculates the average cost of a traditional funeral across England, Scotland and Wales, reviewing the costs of funeral directors and councils published on their websites.

Despite the requirement from the Competition and Markets Authority to publish a standardised price list (under the Funeral Market Investigation Order 2021), the research found cases where funeral directors were quoting old third-party attended cremation prices on their websites, with a difference of as much as £366.

The report also identified an above inflation increase in the cost of an average traditional funeral (described as including the funeral director’s fees, the cost of the celebrant, embalming, returning the ashes, and an additional limousine and the cost of the of the burial and plot or crematorium fees) which is now £4,623; a rise of £61 (1.3%) between January and March 2026.

A ‘postcode lottery’ also exists, with London being the most expensive area in the country, followed by the South East and East of England, and the East and West Midlands. The difference between the cost of a funeral in the cheapest regions (Wales – £4,187, up from £4,136) and most expensive (London – £5,826, up from £5,710) was £1,574, an increase of £79 to £1,639.

Commenting on the research, Ian Atkinson, marketing director at Pure Cremation said: “As we compiled this report, it became clear that just looking at a funeral director’s ‘standardised price list’ won’t give you the real cost in many cases.

“Not only do funeral directors often put a price range next to some items, ‘price on request’ on others and lists of extras – such as ‘additional miles’ charges – making it difficult for families to work out in advance, but now we have found that many are failing to update even basic costs, like 3rd party crematoria fees. This is easy to update as it is standard, but some were out by as much as £366.

“Our research shows that, despite the CMA stepping in, there is still far too much ambiguity around what’s included, what isn’t, and what families actually end up paying. That leaves grieving families vulnerable to hidden costs at the worst possible time.

“Our report aims to change that by giving families a fully transparent way to compare funeral prices in their area — so they know exactly what they’re paying for.”