UK / AGILITYPR.NEWS / January 14, 2021 / A NEW DAWN….

EXPONENTIAL RISE IN DIRECT CREMATION OVER PAST 12 MONTHS AS IT GROWS IN POPULARITY AS AN ALTERNATIVE CHOICE

Direct Cremation Now Accounts for 19% of all Cremations

Direct cremation has seen a near five-fold rise in popularity over the last year, according to the latest Sun Life’s Cost of Dying Report 2021¹.

Now accounting for 19% of all cremations and 14% of all funerals this simplest cremation option where there is no ceremony or mourners present at the crematorium, has undergone a staggering increase from less than 4% of funerals - a trend which experts say is likely to continue.

Changing attitudes towards death and funerals, together with the pandemic, has been the most significant factor contributing to this huge step change.

Cost too has played a major part as money worries continue to be a major issue, with one in seven families stating that they suffered financial hardship as a result of paying for a funeral – hardly surprising as once again the cost of both a standard burial and cremation have risen for the 17th year running with a burial now costing £5033 (up 1.2% from £4795 in 2019) and cremation costing £3,885 (up 0.7% from £3,858 in 2019).

More families are experiencing the benefits of choosing a direct cremation and so awareness is increasing rapidly too, the report quoting that 59% of people surveyed were aware of direct cremation, compared with 52% in 2019. Other key results confirm that this change represents a profound and enduring shift in behaviour - nearly a fifth of those who were not aware saying they would have considered a direct cremation for a loved one if they had known it was an option and 44% said they would consider a direct cremation for their own funeral.

A company which has been at the forefront of this change is Pure Cremation - a trailblazer in the industry and one which has been reshaping the funeral marketplace with its high quality, low-cost service available across the whole of mainland UK, including Northern Ireland.

Now entering its sixth year, Pure Cremation has enjoyed continued annual growth as more families embrace their liberating alternative to the traditional funeral. Their prepaid plan sales have grown at an exponential rate as individuals take positive action to spare their families the trauma and expense of having to arrange a funeral for them.

There’s no doubt that the cost comparison is very attractive. A Pure Cremation is priced from just £1,195, across the whole of the UK, substantially below the average quoted in the report of £1,554 and less than a third of the cost of a basic cremation cost.

Catherine Powell, co-founder and director of Pure Cremation commented: “This report confirms that the tide is turning.

“We’ve seen direct cremation becoming more widely accepted with increased demand for direct cremation from our own clients and growing demand from other funeral directors who use our trade service.

“Change has been a long time coming, but the Sun Life Cost of Dying Report clearly shows that direct cremation is here to stay and will become a more significant part of the funeral landscape as people see its many benefits.

“For years, our customers have been telling us that they are looking for more modern, flexible and personal arrangements with the cost saving being a welcome bonus. This report endorses this.”

Indeed, within the report Justin Cole Director of Sun Life is quoted as saying that direct cremation is becoming far more widely understood and accepted and believes that the continued rise of direct cremation is because people see it as offering choice, not just a way to save money.

Funeral directors also agree, stating that direct will continue to rise (in popularity) and with 93% of them now offering direct cremation as an option.

It is interesting to note that families are placing more emphasis (50%) on celebrating the life of the deceased and describe the traditional funeral formula as too upsetting. Pure Cremation has long seen this as the most significant driver of growth in demand for direct cremation – enabling the bereaved to organise a personal event/memorial which truly reflects the life which has been lived.

The quotes from respondents choosing direct cremation are very familiar to the Pure Cremation team: one said ’We wanted to remember him alive, and it was too painful to have a funeral in person’ with another commenting ‘He was not religious or sentimental and wanted money spent on a wake, not a funeral.’

These sentiments are reflected in the recent Big Future of Funerals² survey conducted by Pure Cremation amongst its 11,000 plan holders. The results show that consumers are looking for a fresh approach with nearly half saying that the crematorium is ‘too depressing’ (46.8%), and ‘feels like a production line’ (44.53%). A quarter (25.3%) said they find traditional services ‘rather impersonal’ and 18.90% reported they would rather go straight to the wake.”

The importance of having a conversation with family members and friends was again borne out in the report which revealed that less than 1% knew all their loved ones wishes. This ignorance adds to the financial burden with families all too often resorting to expensive traditional send offs because they had no information about what the deceased would have chosen.

While it is encouraging that 65% of people have made some sort of provision for their funeral, not everyone has ensured the entire cost will be covered, which still stores up future worries for those left behind.

Catherine Powell continued: “This is a very exciting moment – while we appreciate that direct cremation isn’t for everyone, this growing awareness of different options is the most effective way to shift the balance of power in the funeral sector, finally putting the bereaved in charge of the arrangements and the budget.”

¹ SunLife (2021), Cost of Dying Report, sunlife.co.uk/costofdying2021

² The Big Future of Funerals Survey Report (yumpu.com)

www.purecremation.co.uk