Funeral prices and plans to be reviewed
UK funeral prices to be probed
The BBC is reporting that there are to be two separate reviews carried out by the government into the price of funerals and concerns over pre-paid funeral plans.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is reviewing funeral costs, "to ensure that people are not getting a bad deal". The investigation will focus on funeral prices to ensure that the public are getting a fair deal. The article goes on to state that the average cost of a funeral in 2017 was £3,800.
Meanwhile the Treasury has started a review of pre paid funeral plans following complaints from consumer groups that people are finding they have to pay additional costs not covered in a plan that were originally thought to be included. The outcome could be tougher regulation.
The full article can be read here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44327899
Finders International have their Finders International Funeral Fund to support Local Authorities with the responsibility of carrying out pre-paid funerals. Payments from the fund can be applied for by a Local Authority who has had to arrange and pay for the funeral of a resident with no known next of kin or any assets. The fund isn't open to the general public, but Finders have had an increase in enquiries from the public for support to pay for Funerals.
Help and advice is available from Quaker Social Action, who have been campaigning relentlessly to highlight the growing problem of funeral poverty.
More details on QSA can be found on their website:
https://www.quakersocialaction.org.uk/we-can-help/helping-funerals/down-earth
The Rising Number of Public Health Funerals
Sometimes called ‘pauper’s funerals’, the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 places a statutory duty on councils and health boards to bury or cremate anyone who has died or been found dead in their local area if no other arrangements have been made or are being made otherwise.
In recent years, the numbers of such funerals have soared because of rising funeral costs and the increase in the numbers of people dying alone. A Royal London report at the beginning of the year reported that local authorities spent more than £4 million on public health funerals in 2015/16, an increase of 12 percent over the last five years.
At the same time, the cost of public health funerals increased by 36 percent. Freedom of Information data taken from 260 councils revealed that 3,784 public health funerals took place in 2015/16. The biggest percentage increase in public health funerals was for councils in the East of England—up 36 percent.
London local authorities experienced the most significant increase in costs, with a 51 percent rise in the average funeral cost - £1,004 in 2015/16, compared to £666 in 2011/12.
Royal London’s funeral cost expert, Louise Eaton-Terry, said it was always upsetting when the deceased had no one to arrange a funeral, or that their family simply couldn’t afford the expense. It was clear, she added, that councils were facing increasing pressure to accommodate the number of public health funerals and that the Government needed to take urgent action to tackle rising funeral poverty.
A Devonshire report earlier this month backed the national trend. Torbay Council spent more than £45,000 paying for public health funerals in 2017/18—a total of 25 funerals. In its worst year (2015/16), the council paid for 36 funerals.
Nick Pannell from the Friends of Factory Row, a homeless hostel in Torquay, said each of the public health funerals were a “personal tragedy”, and that the area had a “vulnerable, homeless population”.
What happens at a public health funeral? The service varies between areas, but it’s mostly a “no-frills” event that includes the collection and storage of a body, a basic coffin, burial in a public grave or a cremation, and vehicle/bearers to transport and help in the burial of the deceased. The local authority or health board decides on the funeral director, date and time and family members can attend if they wish—providing they can be located.
David Lockwood, Finders International’s public sector development manager, said: “Finders International runs a funeral fund which can be accessed by local authorities and health boards. We’ve pledged to put £10,000 a year into this important fund as this isn’t an issue that’s going to go away.
“Sadly, Torbay Council’s experience isn’t limited to that area. Across the UK, councils and health boards face the same problem.”
You can read more information about the Finders International Funeral Fund here.