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Step three

Choosing a funeral director

Comparing two standardised price lists takes a quarter of an hour and routinely saves over a thousand pounds. It is the most useful thing anybody can do in this whole process, and almost nobody does it.

Published 4 min read

The single most useful thing you can do

Since 2021, the Competition and Markets Authority has required every funeral director in the UK to publish a standardised price list: the same categories, in the same order, in the same format, displayed in the premises and prominently on the website.

The point of the fixed format is that it makes comparison possible for the first time. Two firms in the same town regularly differ by more than a thousand pounds for materially identical work — the same crematorium, the same day, the same coffin, the same number of staff. There is no quality signal in that difference; it is a pricing decision.

Open two of them. Read them side by side. Fifteen minutes.

The list must show the price of an attended funeral and of an unattended (direct) cremation, plus the additional options and third-party fees. If a firm’s website does not have one, that is itself informative, and it is also a breach.

What to ask, in the arrangement meeting

  • What exactly is in the quoted price, and what is not? Get it as a written estimate, not a conversation.
  • What are the third-party fees for this specific crematorium or cemetery? They are not the firm’s money and they vary by hundreds of pounds between neighbouring authorities.
  • When is payment due, and how much up front? Disbursements are often payable in advance; the firm’s own fee usually is not.
  • Will the person be cared for at these premises, or moved to a central facility? Both are legitimate. Some families care very much and are never told.
  • Can we visit? Again, both answers are fine — but the question is yours to ask.
  • What is your out-of-hours or removal charge if we go elsewhere? Awkward to ask, useful to know.

Say the budget out loud, early. A firm that knows what you can spend can plan a funeral to it. A firm that finds out after the estimate is written cannot, and neither can you without a conversation nobody enjoys.

What you can decline

All of it, other than lawful burial or cremation:

  • Embalming. Not required for a normal funeral, not required to view someone in the days after death, and generally only genuinely necessary for repatriation or a long delay.
  • Limousines. Follow in your own cars. See hearses and transport .
  • An upgraded coffin. The included one is a real coffin. See coffins .
  • A viewing, in either direction.
  • Orders of service, newspaper notices, flowers, catering. All available far more cheaply elsewhere, or not at all.

None of this is disrespectful and none of it will be visible on the day.

Do you need one at all?

No law in the UK requires a funeral director. Families arrange funerals themselves — contacting the crematorium or burial ground directly, transporting the coffin themselves, handling the paperwork. Crematoria and councils have procedures for dealing with the public directly, though some are better at it than others.

It is more work than it sounds, particularly the physical and logistical parts, in a week when you are least equipped for it. But it is entirely lawful, it costs a fraction, and the families who do it are, in our reading, rarely the ones who regret their funeral.

The middle path is more common: use a funeral director for the parts that are genuinely hard — care of the body, the paperwork, the transport, the timing — and do the service, the flowers, the printing and the gathering yourselves.

What a funeral costs · Burial or cremation · Help with funeral costs

  • The price list is a legal requirement

    Every UK funeral director must display a standardised price list in a set format, in the premises and prominently on the website. No exceptions, and no 'ring for a quote'.

  • The family name may not mean a family firm

    Large groups keep the original names over the door. Firms must disclose their ownership — it is on the same page as the price list, and it is worth a glance.

  • Nothing is compulsory

    Embalming, viewing, limousines, an order of service, a newspaper notice, an upgraded coffin. All optional. Declining any of it is normal and nobody will think less of you.

Questions people ask us most

How do I compare funeral directors?
Open two standardised price lists side by side. Since 2021 every UK funeral director has had to publish one in the same format, showing the price of an attended funeral and of a direct cremation, plus a list of additional items. Because the format is fixed, the comparison is genuinely like for like — which is exactly why the requirement exists.
What should I ask at the arrangement meeting?
What is included in the quoted price and what is not; what the third-party fees will be for this specific crematorium or cemetery; when payment is due and how much is needed up front; whether the person will be cared for on these premises or moved elsewhere; and for a full written estimate before anything is confirmed. Every one of those is a normal question and a good firm answers all of them without flinching.
Is a member of a trade association better?
The two main bodies are the National Association of Funeral Directors and the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors. Membership means a code of practice and a complaints route, which is worth having. It is not a licence: funeral directing is not a regulated profession in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, though Scotland has been building a statutory licensing scheme. Membership is a reasonable signal, not a guarantee.
Can I change funeral director after they have collected the person?
Yes. Collection is a separate service from the funeral. The first firm will invoice for the removal and any care given, and hand over to the second. It is awkward and it happens regularly — it is not a scene, and you are entitled to do it.
Do I have to view the body?
No, and the reverse is also true — you are entitled to see the person, and a funeral director should not discourage you. Some people find it helps enormously with the unreality of the first week; others find it does the opposite. There is no correct answer and no obligation in either direction. If children want to, that is worth taking seriously rather than refusing on reflex.
What if something goes wrong?
Complain to the firm in writing first. If that fails and they are a member of a trade association, use its complaints procedure — both main associations have one, and both can arbitrate. Beyond that, the ordinary consumer route applies: the Competition and Markets Authority order gives specific pricing obligations, Trading Standards enforces consumer protection law, and the small claims track exists for money. Where the complaint concerns care of the body itself, it may also be a police matter.

Keep reading

Other pages in this guide

  • Registering a death

    The deadline, who can do it, what to take, and how many certificates to buy.

  • Tell Us Once

    One conversation that notifies most of government, instead of twenty separate letters.

  • Burial or cremation

    The one decision that changes the cost most — and what each option actually involves.

  • Planning the service

    Who leads it, what goes in it, how to write a eulogy, and how long you actually have.

  • What to do with ashes

    Where you may scatter, what needs permission, and why there is no hurry at all.

  • Help with funeral costs

    Every route to help paying for a funeral, and the deadlines that catch people out.

You do not have to work this out in one sitting

Very little has to be done on the first day, and almost nothing has to be decided tonight. Start with the step-by-step guide, and if you need a person rather than a page, the helplines are free and answered by people who do this every day.

Start with the first steps Where to get help