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What the cars are actually for

Mechanically, one vehicle: something to move a coffin from where the person is to where the funeral is. Everything else about funeral transport is ceremony — the slow pace, the black paint, the driver walking in front for the first few yards.

That ceremony is not nothing. It is a public marking of the fact that something has happened, and for many people it is the part of the day that holds. But it is worth being clear-eyed that it is a choice, priced as an item, and one of the very few parts of a funeral that can be reduced without any risk of feeling later that you skimped on the person.

Where the money is

A hearse is included. Limousines are not, and they are the item most often bought without a second thought and least often missed when declined. At £200 to £350 a car, a family taking two limousines has spent more on transport than on the coffin.

If the budget is a real constraint — and see help with funeral costs if it is — the order in which to cut is roughly: limousines first, then the specialist vehicle, then flowers, then printed orders of service. The coffin and the crematorium fee come much later in that list, and the funeral director’s own fee is better handled by comparing firms than by trimming.

The alternatives, and who chooses them

Alternative hearses are usually chosen for one of two reasons: the vehicle was the person’s working life, or it was their pleasure. A lorry cab for a driver, a tractor for a farmer, a motorcycle and sidecar for someone who rode, a camper van for someone who spent thirty summers in one.

Two practical things nobody mentions. Employers, preservation societies and clubs quite often provide a vehicle free or at cost when asked — a fire service will sometimes turn out for a retired firefighter, a bus company for a driver of forty years. And specialist vehicles rarely carry family, so you will still need a following car.

Related: coffins , planning the service and what a funeral costs .

The options

Funeral transport, and what each costs

  • Usually included

    Traditional hearse

    The glass-sided estate car everybody pictures. Included in the attended funeral price at nearly every UK funeral director; around £250 to £400 where it is charged separately.

    • Carries the coffin and the flowers
    • Bearers usually included
    • Can take a short detour on the route at no cost

  • £200 – £350

    Limousine, per car

    Six or seven seats for the immediate family, following the hearse. Entirely optional, and one of the most frequently declined items on a funeral bill.

    • Optional
    • Family may follow in their own cars instead
    • Two limousines is common at large funerals, and rarely necessary

  • £800 – £1,800

    Horse-drawn carriage

    A glass-sided Victorian carriage with two or four horses, black or white, at walking pace. Traditional in many communities and still very common in parts of Wales, the north of England and among Traveller families.

    • Book several weeks ahead
    • White horses often chosen for a young person
    • The walking pace is the point — plan the route accordingly

  • £600 – £1,200

    Motorcycle hearse

    A motorcycle with a glass-sided sidecar carrying the coffin. For someone who rode.

    • Often escorted by the person's own riding club
    • Weather-dependent in practice
    • Fewer operators, so book early

  • £500 – £1,000

    VW camper or classic car hearse

    A converted camper van, Land Rover, Bentley or period vehicle. The gentlest of the alternatives and the one that most often draws a smile at the right moment.

    • Wide choice of vehicles
    • Colours can be matched to the flowers
    • Usually seats no family — a following car is needed

  • £700 – £1,500

    Lorry cab or working vehicle

    An HGV cab, a tractor and trailer, a fire engine, a bus. Arranged for people whose working life was the vehicle.

    • Sometimes provided free by an employer or a preservation society
    • Route and access need checking in advance
    • Ask — this is arranged more often than you would think

  • Free

    Family's own vehicle

    It is lawful to transport a coffin in a private vehicle, and some families do — usually an estate car or a van, with the funeral director's help loading.

    • No legal obstacle
    • Needs a vehicle that genuinely fits a coffin
    • Not every funeral director will assist, so ask early

  • Free

    Walking the coffin

    Bearers carry the coffin the last stretch on foot — from the family home, through a village, or from the cemetery gate to the graveside.

    • Common in Wales and in small communities
    • Usually combined with a hearse for the longer distance
    • Costs nothing and is remembered

Typical UK prices. A traditional hearse is included in most funeral directors’ attended funeral price; everything else is either an extra or a substitution. Specialist vehicles are booked out weeks ahead, particularly at weekends, so raise it at the first meeting if you want one.

  • Cars are the easiest thing to decline

    Declining the limousines and following in your own cars saves several hundred pounds and changes nothing about the day. Almost nobody at a funeral notices what the family arrived in.

  • The route is yours

    A detour past a family home, a workplace, a chapel or a favourite stretch of road costs nothing and is one of the few personal touches at a funeral that is entirely free. Ask for it.

  • Specialist vehicles book out

    Horse-drawn carriages and motorcycle hearses are booked weeks ahead, especially for Friday and Saturday funerals. Raise it at the first meeting, not the second.

Questions people ask us most

Is a hearse included in the funeral price?
At nearly every UK funeral director, yes — the standardised price list will say so under the attended funeral price. Where a hearse is hired separately it is usually £250 to £400. What is almost never included is a limousine for the family, which is charged per vehicle.
Do we have to have limousines?
No, and a great many families do not. Following in your own cars is entirely normal, costs nothing, and has the practical advantage that you can leave the crematorium when you want to rather than when the driver is ready. The usual reason to take one is that somebody elderly or very distressed should not be driving, which is a good reason.
Can we transport the coffin ourselves?
Yes. There is no law in the UK requiring a hearse or a professional to move a coffin, and families do it — most often for a natural burial, or where the person is being taken home first. It needs a vehicle a coffin actually fits in, which is a longer list than a saloon car and a shorter one than people assume, and it needs a funeral director willing to help load it, or none at all if you are arranging the whole funeral yourselves.
How much notice is needed for a horse-drawn carriage?
As much as you can give — several weeks is normal, and weekend dates go first. It also changes the shape of the day: horses walk, so the route has to be short or the carriage meets the cortège partway. A good funeral director will have arranged dozens and will tell you exactly where the difficulties are.
Can the cortège pass a particular place on the way?
Almost always, and it usually costs nothing. A pause outside the family home, a slow pass by a workplace or a chapel, a route along a road the person drove every day — funeral directors arrange this constantly and are rarely asked. It is the cheapest meaningful thing on the whole day.
What happens to the flowers on the hearse?
They travel on top of the coffin or in the back of the hearse, and after the funeral they are usually laid out at the crematorium or the graveside. Ask what you want done with them — many families have them taken to a hospice, a care home or a hospital ward afterwards, which is a good deal better than leaving them on a rack in the rain.

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