Live Your Life to Benefit Others
In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
COST OF A BURIAL FUNERAL IN DIFFERENT UK REGIONS
Introduction
In England local councils have a statutory duty to ensure a funeral is provided for people who die with no-one to make funeral arrangements for them, the so-called public health or pauper's funeral. Beyond this responsibility, bereavement services (which includes funeral/ burial services) is a discretionary function for the councils and, therefore, each council can set its own service-specific fees and charges.
The provision of Bereavement Services is a commercial operation for many councils – whereby the charges paid by the customer is aimed to reflect (at least) the cost of the services they have requested and received. Some councils are introducing new fees and charges structure to try to remain competitive in an evolving market for such services, to ensure that their actual costs are recovered and also to generate a surplus in order to be able to provide free funeral services for children up to and including the age of 18 years, and the remaining surplus is intended to be used for developing/ upgrading Bereavement Services.
However, these changes in fee structures are likely to impact certain groups in the community more than others. For instance, the Muslim and Jewish communities are likely to be adversely affected by significantly higher charges because they invariably bury their dead and use the out of hours funeral services, as they wish to bury their dead as soon as possible. In a fiercely competitive market, with private operators targeting niche markets, the prices for cremation are likely to remain lower than burial funeral expenses.
The cost of a burial varies most across regions
So why are average funeral costs so different across the country? According to research, regional differences are heavily influenced by the average cost of having a burial funeral. The gulf in burial funeral costs between regions is almost £4,500 at its most extreme – costing an average £7,311 in London and £2,985 in Northern Ireland; with the UK average now standing at £4,561.
As some councils, view provision of bereavement services as a commercial operation, they may well out outsource (contract out) their bereavement services, including the funeral service, which will mean the customer will have to pay the going market rate.
Since the first report by Sun Life in 2004, funeral costs in the UK have risen a staggering 112%. If they continue to rise at the same rate, by 2021 we’ll be forking out an average of £4,773 to cover the cost of a funeral.
All Muslims strive to live their lives as ordained by the Almighty and embodied in the religious law called the Sharīʿa. Sharīʿa dictates that after a Muslim man dies there are 4 duties which need to be performed regarding the estate which he has left behind. The first two of these duties are payment of burial/ funeral expenses and debts from the estate of the deceased. Details relating to Islāmic inheritance law can be found here.
Some scholars consider it obligatory for the husband to pay for the shrouding of his wife just as he was obliged to spend on her when she was alive. The funeral should be neither extravagant nor deficient. According to the Ḥanafī fiqh (view of imām Abū Yūsuf (
), the husband should pay for the funeral expenses of his wife. This is also the view of the Mālikī fiqh. According to the Shāfiʿī fiqh, the husband should pay for his wife’s funeral expenses if he is rich. If the wife was rich, the funeral expenses will be paid out of her estate.
In English law, if a person dies having written a Will, then it is the duty of the executor to arrange and pay for the funeral of the deceased if the deceased did not leave enough to cover his own funeral expenses. If the local council is satisfied that the deceased person did not leave enough to cover his/ funeral expenses and the family members provide a written statement disclaiming responsibility, then the council will arrange the funeral. Local authorities will not take over someone's funeral arrangements if this has already been started by the family. If the family is on a low income and gets certain benefits or tax credits, a Funeral Payment may be available through the Government's Social Fund to cover certain costs. Public funeral costs are regarded as a civil debt and local authorities have up to three years to reclaim some, or all, of the funeral's costs from the estate of the person who has died.
Summary and Conclusion
With market forces in play, experts predict funeral prices are set to rise in the UK over the coming years. The cost of a funeral varies greatly amongst different regions in the UK, burials cost on average £6,796 in London and only £3,370 in Northern Ireland – a difference of almost £3,500. Researchers quote the average cost of a basic funeral as being £4,078 to £4,256.
With such rapid increases in funeral prices, many people are buying pre-paid funeral plans, which have seen a massive rise over the past few years. A pre-paid funeral plan involves paying a funeral plan provider now and who will then guarantee to pay your funeral costs directly to the appointed funeral director. Most funeral plan providers only take on people over 50 years of age, although one major provider does offer plans from the age of 18 years. There are different kinds of pre-paid funeral plans guaranteeing different levels of service. There is a Funeral Planning Authority which regulates funeral plan providers. Currently, a premium pre-paid funeral plan with a major well-established funeral plan provider costs a single payment of just under £4,000. Payments can be made on a monthly plan basis. Whether Islamic scholars declare such pre-paid funeral plans to be permissible form a Sharīʿa perspective remains to be seen.
With some councils poised to raise the cost of burial funerals by very large amounts the public, if they wish to do so, has the right to object to these raised costs via any legal means available to them. However, councils are within their rights to set prices they deem suitable in order to run and operate a service in an effective manner. Those councils who plan to outsource their funeral service will have little option but to set market prices for the services they outsource, which for a burial funeral is currently averaged around £4,000.
A Muslim man is obliged, by Sharīʿa, to pay for his funeral expenses from his estate. The cost of any digital autopsy, if performed, also constitutes a debt on the estate of the deceased, and hence must be paid therefrom. What a Muslim wants is fairness and justice, even if it is against his ownself. This means he does not want others to pay his debts after he has died, if his estate is sufficient to pay his debts. There are, of course, many other costs which are not directly associated with the funeral and have no clear basis in Sharīʿa such as flower bouquets, elaborate headstones, the starting price of which is £800 and can cost thousands of pounds, as well as perhaps some social religious gatherings undertaken for the deceased. Perhaps, this is where savings could be made for those who feel financially constrained.
Dr. A. Hussain
4th Dec. 2017
Below is a recent article which appeared in the Telegraph newspaper on the 22nd of August, 2017, which examines the cost of funeral expenses in different regions of the UK.
22 AUGUST 2017 • 4:02PM
When many of us purchase a home, we do so knowing through time, we can change many things about it. From redecorating, upgrading kitchens and bathrooms, adding conservatories or extensions, you can change almost everything about a home, except its location. However, living in a desirable, or popular area, can be expensive in more ways than one.
Average funeral cost now £3,897 - that’s 103pc higher since 2004
When SunLife released its first cost of dying report in 2004, the average cost of a funeral in the UK was £1,920. However, just 12 years later in 2016 and the average cost had increased by 103pc to £3,897*.
Although the average funeral cost in the UK is £3,897, the cost of dying is much higher at £8,802 incorporating costs for the send-off and professional administration of the estate. In 2016, regional variations were noted more than other years with Northern Ireland and North West England cheaper than the national average whilst London was considerably higher than the national average.
Regional variations in basic funeral costs
From highest to lowest, here is the regional variations in funeral costs:
Similar to previous years, London has remained the most expensive place to die at almost 42pc above the average cost of dying in the UK whilst people in Northern Ireland can pay 16pc less than the average cost for a similar service for their loved ones. Of all regions in the UK, not only is Wales 7pc below the national average, it has seen the smallest rise in costs compared to 2015 at just 2pc.
Why are funeral costs so different across the UK?
According to SunLife Cost of Dying research, regional variations in price are heavily influenced by burial costs within the local areas with many referring to this as a 'postcode lottery'. With burial costs varying per region, we have seen funerals with burials costing £6,796 in London and only £3,370 in Northern Ireland – a difference of almost £3,500. The UK average for a funeral with a burial is now on average, £4,256 in the UK.
Although regional variations are largely driven by burial costs, the good news is, cremation only funerals are much cheaper than burials. Additionally, the difference between the most expensive region (London at £4,263) and the cheapest (North West at £2,916) is much less dramatic with a difference of only £1,347. The UK average for a cremation only funeral is now £3,437 (£460 cheaper than the average funeral cost).
Breakdown of the most expensive place to get cremated, from highest to lowest
- London - £4,263
- South West England - £3,716
- South East and East of England - £3,633
- Yorkshire and the Humber - £3,444
- North East England - £3,362
- East and West Midlands - £3,361
- Wales - £3,272
- Scotland - £3,220
- Northern Ireland - £3,185
- North West England - £2,916
If funeral plans continue to rise at the rate of recent years, the average cost of a funeral in 2026 could be as high as £7,049**.
**Sources: SunLife Cost of Dying Report 2016. Projections by Golden Charter on analysis of SunLife Cost of Dying research.