More than three in 10 Brits have failed make any provision to pay for their own funeral while the average cost of dying is now over £9,000, according to new research.
Encouraginly however, the proportion of people holding a life insurance plan to pay for their funeral rose to almost one in five.
The SunLife Cost of Dying Report found the average cost of dying – which included professional fees, the funeral service, and optional extras like the party or wake – was £9,200 – up 3.8% since 2021.
But the report also showed only 69% of people made provisions specifically to pay for their funeral before they passed away – up 3% since last year.
And just 59% put enough aside to cover the whole cost of the funeral – down 4% since 2021.
According to the report, 41% were reliant on savings and investments, down from 49% in 2021 while 39% had a pre-paid funeral plan, up from 37% in 2021.
Around one in five (18%) had an over 50s life insurance plan, down from 19% in 2021, but 19% had another type of life insurance plan which was up from 16% in 2021.
However, while the average cost of dying has risen by 3.8%, from £8,864 in 2021, to £9,200 in 2022, the average cost of a basic funeral has gone down.
At £3,953, this dropped 2.5% since 2021. Meanwhile the most affordable type of funeral – direct cremation – dropped the most to £1,511, which was down 8.2% since 2021.
The report added that at £4,794 a burial was still the most expensive option with a cremation costing £3,673 on average – but these had fallen by 2.7% and 2.4% respectively.
Most UK regions saw a drop in funeral costs. Only two areas – Northern Ireland and Wales – had gone up in price.
At £5,283, London remained the most expensive place to die, while at £3,317, Northern Ireland was once again the most affordable place to die.