Average cost of funeral increases to more than £7,000

The cost of a basic funeral has risen 80 per cent since 2004, with the average attracting up to £3,914.

A report published by Sun Life Direct details that that the overall cost of a funeral has increased by 7.1 per cent on last year’s figure. It also highlights that a cremation will cost you £1,000 less than a burial, with the average cost of a cremation coming in at £2,998.

Additional costs such as flowers and headstones moves the cost of a funeral to £7,622 on average and in the capital that cost soars to £9,556. Wales is the lowest average with just £6,096 per funeral.

The increases have been pinpointed as mainly third party costs however almost a fifth of people have struggled with the soaring costs of funerals in the last four years with the average shortfall rising from £1,246 to £1,277.