Funeral fees in the United Kingdom

Since September 2021, UK funeral directors must publish a standardised fee list. The Competition and Markets Authority made the Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021 after finding that bereaved families struggled to compare providers. The Order places legal duties on funeral directors and crematorium operators. The standardised list uses fixed headings, so one provider's list matches the next.

Find the list before you call. Every funeral director with a website must publish the list there. Branches must display it too. If a provider's site has no list, ask why before you go further. Listings on this site link to the provider's own published list where one exists.

Read the standard headings. The list separates the director's own charges from third-party payments such as crematorium and cemetery fees. It shows an attended funeral, an unattended funeral and the extras you can add. Because the headings match across providers, you can compare two lists side by side with confidence.

Mind what the list cannot show. Third-party payments differ by crematorium and cemetery, so totals move with your choice of venue. Flowers, catering, memorial stones and burial plots sit outside the standard list. Ask for those figures in writing and add them to each total you compare.

Know the crematorium side too. Crematorium operators must publish their own fee information under the same Order. If you arrange a cremation directly with a crematorium, ask for its list as well. Some families book the crematorium slot through the director and some book it apart. Either way, get the figure in writing.

Complain if a provider breaks the rules. A missing list, a list with changed headings, or pressure to skip the list are all warning signs. You can report the provider to the CMA. Keep copies of every list and quote you receive. They are your record if a figure changes later.