Every “average funeral cost” figure circulating online comes from a private insurer or funeral firm, not from the government, and this page does not repeat any of them. Instead, here’s what the law actually requires funeral directors to publish, what a public health funeral is, and where to get help if there is no money to pay for one.
Is there an official average funeral cost?
No government body publishes an average or typical UK funeral cost. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigated the funerals market and required price transparency, not a published market average; every “average cost” figure you see quoted online comes from an insurer’s or funeral firm’s own survey, not from government data.
What the law does give you, and what the rest of this page covers, is a standardised way to compare what any individual funeral director actually charges.
What the CMA’s Order actually requires
Every funeral director in the UK must display a Standardised Price List, in branch and on its website if it has one, under the Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021 (Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021 (PDF), article 3, checked 15 September 2026). It followed the CMA’s market investigation and its final report of December 2020.
The Order also requires an Additional Options Price List and the price information crematoria give to funeral directors, all displayed no more than one click from the homepage. It does not require anyone to publish an average price, only itemised prices for defined types of funeral, which is what makes comparing providers possible.
The Order’s own definitions
The Order defines four kinds of funeral, and using its exact terms makes comparing providers easier than relying on marketing language. An “Attended Funeral” includes a service that mourners may attend; an “Unattended Funeral” has no service and mourners may not attend (Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021 (PDF), article 2, checked 15 September 2026).
A “Direct Burial” is a burial without any service or ceremony and with mourners not present. A “Crematorium Unattended Service” is a cremation with no service and no mourners present. The Order itself notes this is “sometimes referred to as a direct cremation”, though that exact phrase is not itself defined in law. Look for the Crematorium Unattended Service price on a provider’s list rather than a marketing term alone, since providers can bundle different things into “direct cremation”.
Comparing prices between funeral directors
Two funeral directors’ Standardised Price Lists show the same defined items, which is what makes them comparable in a way marketing brochures are not. Check the price for the CMA Attended Funeral or CMA Unattended Funeral, the minimum standard package a provider must price if it offers that type of funeral at all, alongside its Additional Options list.
A list titled “Standardised Price List” should be no more than one click from a funeral director’s homepage; if it isn’t there, ask for it directly, since the Order requires it to be displayed. Comparing the same defined item, rather than a headline figure with no fixed meaning, is the only reliable way to see whether one provider costs more than another.
Public health funerals
Where nobody has made or is making suitable arrangements for a body, the local council has a legal duty to arrange the burial or cremation itself. That duty comes from the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, and applies whether or not the person had any family nearby (section 46(1), checked 15 September 2026).
The Act also protects the deceased’s own wishes: a council must not arrange a cremation where it has reason to believe cremation would go against what the person wanted (s.46(3)). The council can recover its costs from the estate afterwards, as a civil debt, within three years of the cost becoming due (s.46(5)-(6)).
Whether the family can attend a public health funeral is a matter of local council policy, not a rule set by the 1984 Act itself; no national guidance sets one standard practice, so it is worth asking the specific council directly.
The September 2024 change to cremation paperwork
Since 9 September 2024, cremations in England and Wales no longer need a second doctor’s confirmatory certificate, following the introduction of the statutory medical examiner system that scrutinises every death. The change comes from The Cremation, Coroners and Notification of Deaths (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/668 (legislation.gov.uk, checked 1 November 2026).
The old form, Cremation 4, and its fee are abolished; cremation authorisation now flows from the medical examiner’s scrutiny and a redesigned application form instead. We could not find a published figure for the old fee, so no saving is claimed here. The change does not apply in Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
Help with paying
Money for a funeral can come from more than one place — check each of them. Our Funeral Expenses Payment page covers the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) payment available if you or your partner get certain benefits, deducted later from any money you receive from the estate.
Where the estate cannot cover the cost at all, our parents’ debts page explains when family members are and are not liable, and our paying the bills page sets out where funeral costs rank against an estate’s other debts. A widow, widower or surviving civil partner under State Pension age may also be able to claim Bereavement Support Payment separately, which is not means-tested and does not go towards the funeral itself.
This page does not promote or compare funeral plans; readers wanting to plan ahead should take independent advice.