Whether it is from adverts on TV or magazine articles aimed at people of a certain age, there is a lot of talk about direct funerals these days. Of course, providers of funeral services may like to hype this sort of interest to try and drum up business but the fact is that it isn’t all promotional. You just have to look at the figures to realise that there are many more people booking direct funerals today than there ever used to be. Indeed, according to some funeral industry analysis – conducted in the form of consumer surveys – even more, people are considering having a direct funeral than those that actually follow through with one.
So, to put it simply, it isn’t all hype. There is something changing in British culture that says it is okay to opt for a direct funeral if you want one. What’s involved if this is something you’d like to explore?
To begin with, there are two types of direct funeral services available in the UK. You can obtain either of them wherever you live, from John O’ Groats to Lands End. The first is direct cremation, the cheapest funeral service in the country today, while the other is direct burial. Either way, no mourners are allowed to attend. Indeed, there isn’t really a service to speak of at all. The funeral directors will convey the encoffin deceased to the cemetery and lower into the grave or convey it for you to a crematorium where they will be cremated. There is little more to it than that, so why do people want them?
According to one of the leading funeral planning services in the country, Newrest Funerals, the majority of people who book direct funerals with them do so because of cost considerations. Sometimes, those who are responsible for arranging the funeral of a recently departed family member know that there will be very little left in their estate to cover all of the costs associated with a traditional service, so this low-cost option makes sense. However, this isn’t the only reason to have one. Sometimes, people leave specific instructions for a direct funeral even if there is sufficient money to cover something grander. If so, it usually comes down to not wanting a fuss made or the desire not to ‘waste’ money.
Of course, you can keep the costs of a traditional funeral down if you need to. This way, mourners can attend and genuine service will be held. However, if you want a direct funeral, then there is nothing to stop you. After all, it is always feasible that you could spend the money that would have gone on the funeral at a memorial service a few weeks or months later on. That’s something that is increasingly popular, too, perhaps accounting for why there is so much perceived hype about the rising popularity of direct burials and cremations among the British public these days.
