Funeral directors contain prices and deliver added value
By giving bereaved families more choice and working hard to contain their costs funeral directors are delivering excellent value for money, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD). The Association, which represents the funeral directors who conduct around 85% of UK funerals, commissioned Fairfax Management Consultants to carry out a survey of its members which showed that:
The funeral director’s fee for a Typical Funeral (which includes all the services specified in a Simple Funeral Service1 plus the provision of a hearse and one limousine, an entry level coffin and a service at the nearest crematorium) is £1515 – an increase of only 3.25% since 2007 - Despite significant increases in their fixed costs, funeral directors have been containing their prices and now offer a more bespoke service
- Third party disbursements, over which the funeral director has no control, have escalated during the past couple of years by up to 48%
- The grant payable by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to families that qualify for assistance falls well short of the funeral director’s charge for a Simple Funeral Service
Despite rises in business rates, utility bills, stationery, employment costs and fuel, NAFD members are keeping increases in their professional fees to a minimum. The survey found that funeral directors earn an average hourly rate of £35, which compares favourably with other professional service providers, for example the cost of services provided by plumbers (£30/hour State of the Trade 2009 survey), car mechanics (£90.16/hour Warranty Direct research 2009) and electricians (£35-45 per hour).
Significant increases in disbursements are the prime cause of higher funeral costs over the past couple of years. For example, the cost of hiring a church for a funeral service, including the organist’s fees and heating/lighting, is now £220, up 13.1% since 2007; the average cost of a cremation has increased by 48.1% to £613; the cost of interring cremated remains at a crematorium or cemetery has risen 67% to £167 and the price of a standard size grave has increased 42% to £612.
The survey highlights that the cost of Simple Funeral Service now averages £1184.50 excluding disbursements, yet the amount the Department for Work and Pensions pays to bereaved families who qualify for support from the Social Fund has been capped at £700 since 2003. The situation gives the NAFD cause for concern and it has been campaigning for a raft of improvements in funeral payments from the Social Fund. In addition to containing their own costs funeral directors are adding value by providing a 24/7 service, giving families a wider choice of products and services than ever before and maintaining exceptionally high standards. In 2009 NAFD member firms achieved a 99.97% satisfaction rate with only 104 complaints being received by the Funeral Arbitration Scheme – the independent conciliation and arbitration scheme set up by the NAFD in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators to resolve disputes which cannot be settled by negotiation between the funeral business and the family.
“Funeral directors are retail businesses and this latest survey underlines that, despite being affected by substantial rises in their fixed costs, they continue to deliver excellent value,” says NAFD chief executive officer Alan Slater. “Increases in disbursements during the past couple of years have far outweighed the rise in professional fees over the same period, but what concerns us most is the gulf of almost £500 that now exists between the maximum payment available through the Social Fund and the price of the most basic funeral. We will therefore be reiterating our demands for an overhaul of the payments system and a realistic increase in the £700 threshold.”