THE cost of dying in Britain has soared by 3.8 per cent to more than £9,000, according to a financial service company.

Overall financial costs to be paid when someone dies have increased from £8,864 in 2021 to £9,200 on average in 2022, data from SunLife found.

The research found that although basic funeral costs for services like burials and cremations had decreased by 2.5 per cent since 2001, higher professional fees and extra costs meant the overall price went up.

SunLife said the cost of hiring a professional to administer the estate of the deceased has increased by 10.9 per cent since its report from last year, totalling an average of £2,578.

And the cost of the “send-off,” including optional extras like flowers, catering and limousines, has also increased by 7.4 per cent.

There has been an “astonishing” 116 per cent increase in funeral costs since 2004, SunLife said.

SunLife head Mark Screeton said: “The overall cost of dying — which includes the funeral plus the professional fees and the send-off … is nearly an all-time high.
 
“We have seen an increase in the total cost of dying from last year, suggesting that the fees and extras associated with funerals are moving in line with the rising prices we’re seeing in most other areas of our lives.”

The recent lowering of basic funeral costs such as burial or cremation could be in part because the pandemic popularised cheaper direct cremations, Mr Screeton said. 

He added that funeral directors have also been told to advertise their prices more clearly, which in some cases has led to reduced basic funeral costs.