Last Updated on September 17, 2026
Funeral pricing is now published twice over: by law on every firm’s website, and by research every year. A firm that engages with both, openly, gives families the thing the CMA found missing from this market. Here are the numbers, and the rules, as they stand.
What funerals cost, at published 2026 research figures
| Item | Published figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Simple attended funeral | £3,828 average (burial £4,758, cremation £3,518) | SunLife Cost of Dying report 2026, 2025 data |
| Traditional attended funeral | £4,510 average, up 5.3% on the year | SunLife 2026 |
| Direct cremation | £1,628 average | SunLife 2026 |
| Spend on the send-off (wake, flowers, memorial) | £1,312 average | SunLife 2026 |
| Regional spread, simple attended | London highest at £4,897, Northern Ireland lowest at £3,105 | SunLife 2026 |
| Funeral types | attended cremation 53%, burial 26%, direct cremation 21% | SunLife 2026 |
SunLife changed its categories in the 2026 edition, splitting simple from traditional attended funerals, so figures are not directly comparable with earlier years. Its 2025 report also found 15% of families faced financial hardship meeting the cost, short by £2,365 on average, which is the human case for clarity stated as plainly as it can be.
What the law requires you to publish
The CMA’s Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021, in force and last updated on gov.uk in August 2026: the Standardised Price List displayed at your premises and on your website no more than one click from the homepage, showing the separate prices of the core attended funeral items and the attended total, totals for unattended burial and cremation, and local burial and cremation fee ranges, plus an Additional Options Price List for everything else you advertise. Ownership information, including your ultimate owner, and contributions over £250 to any organisation in a year must be disclosed. The CMA’s 2023 review found over 100 firms, around 5% of providers, non-compliant, and it continues to publish letters to named firms.
Beyond the minimum: transparency as reassurance
The compliant minimum is a list. The reassuring version wraps it in plain words: what each item means, what is optional, what the crematorium charges versus what you charge, and worked examples at real totals. Publishing the SunLife averages beside your own prices takes courage and answers the question every family silently asks, is this normal. The firms that do this well remove the fear from the conversation before it starts, which is what this trade’s marketing is for.
Common questions
How much does a funeral cost in the UK in 2026?
By SunLife’s 2026 Cost of Dying report, a simple attended funeral averaged £3,828 in 2025, a traditional attended funeral £4,510, and a direct cremation £1,628, with about £1,312 more typically spent on the send-off. Regional averages range from £3,105 to £4,897.
What prices must funeral directors display?
Under the CMA’s 2021 Order: the Standardised Price List at premises and on the website within one click of the homepage, unattended funeral totals, local burial and cremation fee ranges, an additional options list, and ownership disclosures. Around 5% of providers were found non-compliant in the CMA’s 2023 review.
What is a direct cremation?
A cremation without a funeral service or attendance, averaging £1,628 in 2025 per SunLife. Around one in five funerals is now a direct cremation, and clear firms explain both what it costs and what it does not include.
Before you spend any of this, check what the machines can read
The free Whito Visibility Check shows whether your price list is where a family, or an engine, would find it. Seventeen checks, no email needed.
