SunLife's Cost of Dying Report 2026 puts average funeral costs in the UK at £3,828 for a simple attended funeral and £1,628 for a direct cremation. Those are survey averages for funerals held in 2025, not a quote for any one family, and the type of funeral and where you live move the figure a good deal.
If you are arranging a funeral now and the cost is worrying you, the section on help paying for a funeral below sets out what GOV.UK, Scotland and Northern Ireland offer. A funeral bill can also be paid from the estate of the person who died, which GOV.UK explains. For support with the loss itself, Cruse Bereavement Support, one of the organisations GOV.UK lists, has a free helpline on 0808 808 1677.
If you are reading to plan ahead, sending a short enquiry through the form on this page would bring a call from a broker with FCA authorisation, who can go through plans and cover. It costs nothing, and you are not committing to anything.
What is the average cost of a funeral in the UK?
SunLife, which sells over-50s life insurance, publishes the Cost of Dying Report each year (the 2026 edition came out in January 2026 and covers funerals in 2025). It says its funeral costs are "calculated as a weighted average of burials and cremations in the UK (in 2025, 26% versus 74%)". The report gives several averages, because there is no single funeral:
- a simple attended funeral, £3,828, which the report describes as "one that includes all commonly chosen elements";
- a traditional attended funeral, £4,510, which "expands on a simple attended funeral with a handful of extras, such as a limousine and a mid-range coffin";
- a direct cremation, £1,628, the lowest-priced type in the report.
On top of the funeral itself, mourners often pay for extras. The report puts the average send-off spend (memorials, catering, venue hire, flowers and similar) at £1,312, and adding that to a simple attended funeral gives its total of £5,140. Of the extras, a memorial is "still the most expensive send-off extra", at an average of £1,044, and flowers averaged £242 in 2025.
Prices have been rising: in the report, a traditional attended funeral rose 5.3% on 2024, which it calls "the highest increase since 2016", and its direct cremation figure rose 1.9%. These are survey averages, not what a funeral director will charge you or the price of a prepaid plan, which has its own page: how much a funeral plan costs.
How much does a cremation, a burial or a direct cremation cost?
SunLife's 2026 report separates burials from cremations for each type of funeral. The figures below are its averages for 2025, as the report states them.
| Type of funeral (SunLife, 2025) | Burial | Cremation | Weighted average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple attended | £4,758 | £3,518 | £3,828 |
| Traditional attended | £5,440 | £4,200 | £4,510 |
| Direct (no service or guests) | £1,628 (excludes third-party fees) | £1,628 | – |
For a simple attended funeral, the report lists what the price covers: collection of the deceased, all care of the deceased, robe and dressing, pre-paying disbursements and attending to documentation, a hearse, a wood-effect coffin, and "fees for the burial or cremation at the cemetery or crematorium". So the crematorium or cemetery fee is inside the simple and traditional cremation and burial figures. The traditional funeral adds use of the chapel of rest for viewing, a limousine with attendants and a mid-range oak-veneer coffin.
The report says the direct burial figure "doesn't include third-party fees" (which GOV.UK describes as things a funeral director pays on your behalf, such as crematorium or cemetery fees) and puts the burial plot at an average of £2,374, giving £4,002 for a direct burial with a plot. It also says doctors' fees are "no longer applicable in England, Scotland, or Wales (but remain in Northern Ireland)". For England and Wales, the government's overview of the death certification reforms (August 2024) explains that from 9 September 2024 a medical examiner's scrutiny "will make the form Cremation 4 confirmation obsolete".
What is the cheapest funeral you can arrange?
In SunLife's report the lowest-priced option is a direct cremation, at £1,628 on average in 2025, with the same average for a direct burial before its third-party fees and plot. A direct funeral has no service and no guests: the report describes it as one where "the deceased is taken directly to the crematorium or cemetery". Direct cremations make up 21% of all funerals in the report.
The cheapest funeral is not always the lowest total. The same report found that 86% of direct cremation organisers still held a memorial service or celebration of life, and says the average spent on a direct cremation once that is counted is £2,949. A family that wants a ceremony may want to price both routes.
To see real prices for your area, use each funeral director's own price list. GOV.UK says "Funeral directors are legally required to publish a price list for the standard set of products and services they offer", and the CMA's Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021 requires it on the director's website as a PDF titled "Standardised Price List", no more than one click from the homepage. It shows the charges for an attended funeral and for an unattended burial or "Cremation (funeral director's charges plus the cremation fee)", plus the typical local cremation and burial fees, which makes directors easier to compare.
If you are thinking about your own funeral rather than arranging one now, an FCA-authorised broker can talk through direct cremation plans and funeral cover with you. Sending a few lines via the form on this page puts that conversation in motion, at no charge and with nothing to sign.
Do funeral costs differ in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
They do. SunLife says "regional costs can vary by more than £1,000" for a simple attended funeral, against a national average of £3,828, and that London, at £4,897, is the highest "by some margin". Its list for 2025, from most to least expensive:
| Region (SunLife, simple attended funeral, 2025) | Average |
|---|---|
| London | £4,897 |
| East and West Midlands | £4,222 |
| South East and East of England | £4,173 |
| South West England | £3,892 |
| North West England | £3,748 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £3,717 |
| Scotland | £3,655 |
| Wales | £3,459 |
| North East England | £3,411 |
| Northern Ireland | £3,105 |
On SunLife's figures, the gap between the least and most expensive region is "a mark-up of 58%". For burials, the report says the differences are "especially stark due to the cost of a burial plot", which it puts at an average of £886 in Northern Ireland and £4,863 in London.
What help is there with paying for a funeral?
SunLife found that 15% of families had notable financial concerns paying for a funeral. Some help exists, depending on where you live and the benefits you receive.
England and Wales. GOV.UK says you could get a Funeral Expenses Payment "if you get certain benefits and need help to pay for a funeral you're arranging". You or your partner must get Universal Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit or Housing Benefit, you must meet the rules on your relationship with the person who died, and you must apply within 6 months of the funeral. It can help with burial fees for a particular plot and cremation fees, including the doctor's certificate, plus "up to £1,000 for any other funeral expenses, such as funeral director's fees, flowers or the coffin". It "will not usually cover all of the costs of the funeral", is deducted from any money you get from the estate, and if the person had a prepaid funeral plan you can get up to £120 for items the plan does not cover. SunLife reports that, for those who receive it, the payment covers approximately 48% of the total funeral costs on average. The Bereavement Service helpline is 0800 151 2012, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Scotland. GOV.UK says the Funeral Support Payment "has replaced Funeral Expenses Payment in Scotland". mygov.scot says the payment "will usually cover the cost of burial, cremation or hydrolysis in Scotland", and that you can get "£1,327.75 to put towards any other funeral costs you need to pay for", or £162.05 if the person had a funeral plan. Those are the 2026-27 rates in the Scottish Government's up-rating report (February 2026). You can apply until 6 months after the funeral, and Social Security Scotland takes calls free on 0800 182 2222.
Northern Ireland. nidirect says the Funeral Expenses Payment can include "up to £1000 for funeral expenses for fees or items such as funeral director's fees, flowers, coffin", and that you must apply within six months of the funeral. You apply through the Bereavement Service helpline.
A child or baby's funeral. The help differs, and is set out in our page on life insurance and help for children.
From the estate. GOV.UK lists paying "with money from the person's estate (savings, for example)", and says getting access to it is called applying for a grant of representation, sometimes called probate. It also suggests checking whether the person made arrangements, which "could include prepaid funeral plans or life insurance". mygov.scot and nidirect both say the payment can be recovered from the estate.
How do people plan for these costs in advance?
People who want to plan ahead usually choose between putting money aside, a prepaid funeral plan and a funeral cover policy, which work differently. Our guide to the funeral plans and funeral costs hub explains the choices, best funeral plans compares what four providers' plans include, and direct cremation plan costs covers the cheapest type. Prepaid plans are regulated: the FCA says a provider "must be authorised by us and have permission for the right activities", and its Firm Checker shows whether one is.
Fixed-sum funeral cover is compared in funeral cover comparison, which sets out how its payout and qualifying period work; funeral cover for couples looks at covering two people, whether life insurance covers funeral costs at ordinary policies, and life insurance for the over-fifties at later-life plans.
Frequently asked questions
Do funeral costs go up every year?
SunLife's report says 83% of funeral directors believe that, in general, funeral costs have risen on the year before. Looking ahead, it projects that a traditional attended funeral "could increase by a further 17% from 2025 to 2030", which is an estimate, not a forecast of any bill.
Is there a funeral cost calculator?
Survey averages like these are not a calculator. For a price near you, use the Standardised Price List that each funeral director must publish, and ask about third-party fees separately.
What does a Muslim funeral cost?
The averages on this page are for UK funerals as a whole. Burial customs and costs for Muslim funerals are set out in how much a Muslim funeral costs.
There is no rush. If, later on, you want help weighing up funeral plans and cover, an FCA-authorised broker can take you through them: a note through the form on this page, whenever it suits you, is all it takes.
Sources
- SunLife, Cost of Dying Report 2026 (January 2026), read 18 October 2026. sunlife.co.uk (report PDF); sunlife.co.uk/funeral-costs
- Competition and Markets Authority, The Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021 (September 2021), read 18 October 2026. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
- GOV.UK, Get help with funeral costs (Funeral Expenses Payment), read 18 October 2026. gov.uk/funeral-payments
- GOV.UK, What to do after someone dies (December 2024), read 18 October 2026. gov.uk/after-a-death
- mygov.scot, Funeral Support Payment pages, read 18 October 2026. mygov.scot
- Scottish Government, Social Security Assistance in Scotland: up-rating for inflation in 2026-2027 (February 2026), read 18 October 2026. gov.scot
- GOV.UK (DHSC), An overview of the death certification reforms (August 2024), read 18 October 2026. gov.uk
- FCA, Funeral plans: check your provider is authorised (updated March 2026), read 18 October 2026. fca.org.uk
- Cruse Bereavement Support, Helpline, read 18 October 2026. cruse.org.uk
- nidirect, Funeral Expenses Payments, read 18 October 2026. nidirect.gov.uk