Direct Cremations often gets a mention in the news, we’ve pulled some snippets from articles over the last few years to share with you here:

The Express

Direct cremation: What is direct cremation? How has coronavirus changed funerals?

“Funerals are “a great expense for many, particularly given additional expenses like the ceremony, flowers and food/drink for mourners during the wake.

A direct cremation is seen as a means of removing the most expensive part of the traditional process.

After death, the body is collected and transported directly to a crematorium in a private ambulance where it is held in a simple casket. No-one attends the cremation before the ashes are returned to family members”

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This Is Money

Cost of a basic funeral dips below £4,000 as firms are forced to display prices and budget cremations are more commonplace after pandemic

Direct cremations “continued to make up 18 per cent of funerals last year. Some 57 per cent of funerals were traditional cremations and 25 per cent were burials, also unchanged from 2021.

A ‘direct cremation’ is conducted with no funeral service and mourners, but ashes are returned to a family afterwards, allowing them to organise a personal memorial at a time of their choosing.”

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BBC 

Cost of living: ‘I don’t want a funeral, it’s a waste of money’

“Direct cremations, when the body is cremated without a service and the ashes are returned to the family, have risen in popularity in the last few years, partly because they are the cheapest option.

Funeral directors say there has been an increase in demand for basic services due to the cost of living crisis.

Average funeral costs were £3,953 last year, compared to an average cost of £1,511 for direct cremations, which now account for 18% of all funerals, according to a report from insurer SunLife.”

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The Times 

Cardboard coffin or full parade? How to plan for your funeral

“The cheapest options are direct cremations, which happen without a service or mourners present. They cost an average of £1,511 last year. SunLife estimates that they now make up 18 per cent of all funerals, up from 2 per cent in 2018. Many people choosing this option arrange a separate celebration of life or memorial, however.”

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ITV 

What is a ‘direct cremation’ and why are more people choosing one instead of a funeral?

“When they first came out I thought ‘this will never work’ but I was completely taken aback because direct cremation does have a place, it has a big place now.”

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