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British gov't assesses funeral costs as report shows low-income Britons struggle to pay

Xinhua, March 31, 2016 Adjust font size:

The distressing story of a mother forced to have the body of her son frozen for months while she saved to pay for his funeral, was told Thursday in a government report on the rising cost of funerals in Britain.

A committee of House of Commons politicians also heard evidence of how bereaved families were denied the cremated ashes of loved family members because of a shortfall in the final payments to funeral parlors.

MP Frank Field, who chaired the committee, said Thursday: "We heard clear evidence of the distressing circumstances and debt this is leading people into at a time when they are grieving and vulnerable. We do not want a return to the spectre of miserable 'pauper's funerals'."

The committee has called for the British government to follow the Scottish government's lead and carry out a review of burials, cremations, and funerals, with a view to making changes that have a long-term impact on funeral inflation so as to reduce funeral poverty.

The politicians said evidence on publicly-funded bereavement support suggests the funeral industry may not be operating in a way that serves the bereaved.

The maximum award for funeral costs from a government-run social fund has been fixed at 700 pounds (1,006 U.S. dollars) since 2003. The committee said this was not enough to cover the cost of a simple funeral, estimated at 1,200 pounds. The average cost of a basic funeral in Britain is now around 3,700 pounds.

Field added: "We are concerned by the lack of protection in the market for bereaved customers, particularly those on low incomes. What is clear to us is the contrast between social fund payments for funerals, which have not increased since 2003, and the costs of a funeral, which rose on one estimate by 3.9 percent from 2014-15 alone in an environment of almost zero inflation. This means that funeral payments for those who can prove they are entitled to assistance now fall far short of covering even a basic funeral."

"We urge the government to conduct a cross-departmental review of burials, cremations and funerals, with outcomes that will address the factors driving up funeral director fees and work to reduce funeral poverty," he said. Endit