Funeral costs a 'postcode lottery' according to recent research

A survey by the funeral plans provider found that London was the most expensive for a funeral in the UK last year, with the average cost of a burial at £10,187.

That compares to just £4,771 for a burial in East Anglia, the cheapest region. The national average for a burial last year was £6,916.

The firm’s research also found that the South-east was the most expensive place to be cremated at £5,123, while the cheapest was Yorkshire at £3,314.

Avalon said that the lack of space in the London region made burials there more expensive.

It added that many funeral directors quoted prices for their local or most used churches and cemeteries and that some churches charge extra for things like lighting or heating, depending on what time of year it is.

Some will lower their costs if the deceased was a member of their congregation.

Avalon commercial director Jo Darbyshire said: “It is a real lottery with the biggest difference in prices coming from where you want your funeral to be and as we have shown this difference can be over £5,000 for burials and nearly £2,000 for cremations.

“However, if you buy a funeral plan, you can avoid this postcode lottery and you have the added advantage of buying at today’s prices which can save you thousands.”

She added that since the death of David Bowie in 2016 the number of direct cremations has risen.

The pop star opted for a direct cremation, where the body is taken straight from the place of death to the crematorium and the ashes are immediately returned to the family.

Families and friends are not present during the cremation.

The UK funeral market is worth £1.7 billion per annum and is dominated by stock market listed Dignity and Co-Operative Funeral services.

Historically, it is an “extremely high margin” business, where profits can be several times more than expenses says Darbyshire, but the market is changing due to price competition brought about by comparison sites.

In January Dignity issued a profit warning, which halved its share price, due to the price war.