People are finding the rising costs of funerals so difficult to pay for that this is leading to DIY funerals, according to MP Emma Lewell-Buck.
DIY Funerals On The Rise
The Labour backbencher stood in the commons yesterday to highlight this growing problem, revealing that some are having to bury loved ones in their back gardens because they couldn't meet funeral costs.
Lewell-Buck - who is an MP for South Shields - highlighted that the price of funerals are rising higher than inflation, which the average cost of a funeral being £3,3551. However, in come places the cost of a funeral can be as much as £7000.
Speaking in the Commons Lewell-Buck said: "One woman from my area approached the Citizens Advice Bureau with unmanageable debts. She had been unable to get the money together to pay for a headstone for her brother's grave.
"She ended up applying for a payday loan and the cost of repaying this debt had quickly got out of control. Sadly, her story is not an isolated one.
"Royal London estimates that 110,000 people are living with funeral debt, with each person owing over £1,300 on average. As well as rising debts, we're also seeing people turn to alternatives to the traditional funeral. Some are holding do it yourself funerals and even having to bury their relatives in their back garden.
"A number of companies are offering cut-price funerals including direct cremations that have no formal service attached to them. Increasingly bereaved individuals who simply cannot afford a formal service are faced with having to opt for a public health funeral - or what used to be referred to as pauper's funerals."
The MP wanted ministers to tackle 'funeral poverty' and launch a nationwide review of costs, services, and just how people are struggling to meet those costs.
She continued: "The Bill I wish to bring in would have two main objectives - it would identify ways of reducing funeral costs by requiring the secretary of state to conduct an over-arching review of funeral affordability in the UK.
"Secondly, it would take immediate steps to help hard-pressed households facing funeral poverty via specific measures to reform the funeral payments social fund system by introducing a simple funeral."
However, the bill that she is proposing is unlikely to progress further due to a lack of parliamentary time. This will result in more families struggling to give their loved ones the funerals that they deserve to have.