Funeral Costs UK: Average Prices & Help Paying (2026)

MoneyHelper says the cost can vary quite a bit, depending on location and the funeral arrangements. These are its average costs, which it sources to the SunLife Cost of Dying 2025 report:

• A funeral using a funeral director: £4,285 on average
• Cremation using a funeral director: £3,980 on average
• Burial using a funeral director: £5,198 on average
• Direct cremation: £1,597 on average, which MoneyHelper says covers collecting the deceased, a simple coffin, and returning the ashes

MoneyHelper says you could very easily end up adding an extra £2,861 or more to the final bill for optional send-off items and services. Its average costs for some of them are:

• Memorial headstone or plaque: £1,038
• Catering: £527
• Limousine: £431
• Venue hire: £351
• Flowers: £222

MoneyHelper also gives average UK funeral costs by region, which it sources to Legal & General in August 2024:

MoneyHelper says third-party costs, also known as disbursement costs, are the fees you must pay to a third party to either bury or cremate the body, such as cremation fees, a medical referee's certificate, clergy or an officiant, and the burial fee which usually covers the lease of a burial plot and the digging and filling of the grave.

The Competition and Markets Authority says that from 16 September 2021 a funeral director must clearly display a Standardised Price List in their window, in their premises and on their website. MoneyHelper suggests these ways to keep the cost down:

• Get at least two quotes, perhaps from an independent funeral director and one from a chain
• Local independent funeral directors are usually cheaper than a national chain
• You could have a direct cremation and then organise a ceremony at home
• You could even arrange the funeral yourself
• There is nothing in the law that states you must use a coffin, and you can use a shroud instead
• Cremations are usually cheaper than burials
• A council-run crematorium is usually cheaper than a private one
• Choosing a cheaper slot, such as an early morning or a weekday slot, can also lower the cost

MoneyHelper says there is no central place or directory to check whether the person who died had a funeral plan or insurance. It suggests checking their papers, and whether a copy was stored with the will, with a family solicitor or at the bank.

GOV.UK says you could get a Funeral Expenses Payment if you get certain benefits and need help to pay for a funeral you are arranging. In England and Wales you can get one if all of the following apply:

• ✓Yes: You get certain benefits
• ✓Yes: You meet the rules on your relationship with the deceased
• ✓Yes: You are arranging a funeral in the UK, the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland

You (or your partner) must get one or more of these benefits:

• ✓Yes: Universal Credit
• ✓Yes: Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• ✓Yes: Pension Credit
• ✓Yes: Housing Benefit

GOV.UK says you might also be eligible if you are getting a Support for Mortgage Interest loan, and that you can still claim if you have applied for these benefits and are waiting to hear about your claim.

GOV.UK says a Funeral Expenses Payment can help pay for some of the costs of:

• ✓Yes: Burial fees for a particular plot
• ✓Yes: Cremation fees, including the cost of the doctor's certificate
• ✓Yes: Travel to arrange or go to the funeral
• ✓Yes: The cost of moving the body within the UK, if it is being moved more than 50 miles
• ✓Yes: Death certificates or other documents
• ✓Yes: Up to £1,000 for any other funeral expenses, such as funeral director's fees, flowers or the coffin

GOV.UK says the payment will not usually cover all of the costs of the funeral, and that your Funeral Expenses Payment will be deducted from any money you get from the deceased's estate. If the deceased had a pre-paid funeral plan, you can only get up to £120 to help pay for items not covered by their plan.

In Scotland, GOV.UK says you can apply for a Funeral Support Payment, which has replaced Funeral Expenses Payment there. mygov.scot says it will not usually cover the full cost of a funeral, and that you or your partner must get one or more of Universal Credit, Income Support, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance.

In Northern Ireland, nidirect says you may be eligible if you or your partner get Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Universal Credit or income-related Employment and Support Allowance, and that you must apply within six months of the funeral.

• If the person who died had already paid for their funeral, MoneyHelper says the executor of the estate will take care of paying the funeral bill
• Otherwise, MoneyHelper says usually a relative or friend pays for the funeral, but they can get the funeral costs back from the estate if there is enough in it
• If the person who died had other debts, MoneyHelper says funeral costs are usually paid first, but some secured debts, such as a mortgage, are paid before funeral costs

MoneyHelper says the bank or building society normally freezes the individual accounts of the person who died when they are told of the death, and that you usually need the help of the executor or administrator to access the money once it is frozen. It says it is sometimes possible to access the money without their help, and that as a minimum you will need a copy of the death certificate and an invoice for the funeral costs with your name on it. It says the bank can then pay the essential funeral bills directly to the company providing the service.

Section 46 of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 says it is the duty of a local authority to cause to be buried or cremated the body of any person who has died or been found dead in their area, where no suitable arrangements for the disposal of the body have been or are being made otherwise than by the authority. The authority may recover its expenses from the estate of the deceased person. MoneyHelper says that in England or Wales the local council or hospital can arrange a Public Health Funeral if there is not enough money in the estate to pay for it and there are no relatives or friends available to arrange the funeral. It says extras such as flowers, cars or notices in the local newspaper are not included.

MoneyHelper says that in Scotland the local council is legally required to arrange the burial or cremation, and that in Northern Ireland the local council or health authority may arrange the funeral, but only if no one else has already done so.

MoneyHelper says there are other bereavement benefits available to help you cope financially after a death, and GOV.UK says Bereavement Support Payment is money you can get if your partner dies. GOV.UK says it is not means-tested, and that when your partner died you must have been under State Pension age, living in the UK or a country that pays bereavement benefits, and married to your partner, in a civil partnership with them, or living with them as if you were married.

MoneyHelper says that a person who pre-pays a funeral director or a funeral care company for a specific type of funeral has a funeral plan, and that with a funeral plan you have to use that funeral director, or one from an approved list, to arrange the funeral. It says funeral insurance pays out a fixed lump sum which should cover the cost of a funeral, which you can then use to pay for a funeral from any funeral director.

Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Order 2021, carrying out a funeral plan contract as provider is a specified kind of activity, and the Order came into force on 29 July 2022 so far as not already in force. The FCA says a funeral plan provider must be authorised by it and have permission for the right activities.

• ✗No: If a funeral plan provider is not authorised by the FCA with the right permissions, you will not have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you want to complain
• ✗No: If it is not authorised, you also will not have access to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the firm goes out of business, which the FCA says means it is unlikely you would get your money back