Independent and unbiased review and research focused on the funeral market in the UK.
Synopsis of this report:
This is the 3rd year that FSE has produced a ‘What is the real average cost of a funeral in the UK’ report, working in collaboration with The National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF).
Our shared aim being to raise the profile of misleading use of funeral cost figures in the UK. Working with regulators, consumer influencers, and media to help ensure that consumers are not being misled, especially where they may be fed information in order to potentially buy more insurance cover than they may need.
In this 2026 report we evidence that despite some methodology improvements – ‘The Sun Life Cost of Dying’ report is still misleading. We establish a true picture of what Independent Funeral Directors are charging for different funeral types, seek to understand what consumers say they are actually spending, and outline how future funeral preferences will continue to alter the landscape and mix of funerals and hence what the impact will be on funeral costs in the UK.
This 2026 report sources from Cremation Society and ONS data, from FSE conducted research among 150 independent Funeral Directors across 10 UK regions, and from desk research amongst national providers of direct cremation services.
The report also sources from FSE proprietary consumer insight using a nationally representative sample of 6,000 UK adults (Nov 2025 to May 2026) seeking the views of those who had closely been involved in arranging a funeral in the last 2 years, and a separate nationally representative survey among 1,500 UK adults conducted in March 2026, asking their preference for types of funeral, funeral services provider and how they felt about each type of provider.
Our data provides a benchmark for what people would want for themselves and therefore gives an indication of the future direction of change; whether that is to what extent direct cremation might continue to displace traditional cremation, how other funeral choices may become more popular, and to what extent Funeral Directors are under threat from online providers.
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Methodology summary
3. The ‘Cost of Dying’ continues to mislead
4. The average funeral cost from an independent Funeral Director
5. The average amount spent on funerals in the UK
6. Consumer views impacting future average funeral cost
7. Independent Funeral Directors are seen as the experts
8. Summary conclusions
- This report will be provided as a fully designed digital PDF of around 45 pages including charts.
- For more information about the report or other services, please contact reports@funeralsolutionexpert.co.uk
