Supporting You Through Life

Survey reveals rocketing cost of dying

According to a survey by Sun LIfe Direct, the cost of dying has soared to £7,248, a rise of 61% since 2004.

The company has revealed that the average bereaved family spent over £400 more than last year on funerals, probate costs and memorials. According to their research these costs will continue to rise.

26% of survey participants stated they had not considered their plans for later in life, and 87% admitted to having no living or care arrangements in place for old age. Sun Life Direct’s head of life planning, Simon Cox, said, 'many people are sleepwalking into a financial nightmare, leaving end-of-life plans to their families, the state or no one at all. Steps need to be taken to avert the sort of distress and concern experienced by the nearly one in five people who struggle with funeral costs”.

In addition, statistics from the University of Bath have demonstrated that the number of deaths per year is set to increase significantly from 491,348 in 2009 to over 570,000 by 2030. Dr Kate Woodthorpe, a lecturer in Sociology at the university, feels that the rises in deaths as well as funeral costs are untenable and that “as a society, we have to ask ourselves whether the current infrastructure for end-of-life support is fit for purpose.”