 |
| Northern Cemetery Chapel, Chanterlands Avenue, Hull |
People, it appears, can no longer afford to die. Yes I know they keep on shuffling off without a care but those left behind are finding it increasingly difficult to pay for disposing of the earthly remains. The average cost of dying, that's including funeral, burial or cremation and state administration, rose last year by over 7% to £7,622 if you believe a survey by an insurance company although that does seem rather a lot. That figure is greater than average savings so you can see how it might distress the bereaved to get into debt over this matter. Clearly someone is making a pile (dare I say they are making a killing, why not?) out of all this; undertakers' mark-ups on coffins, for example, are reputed to be 200%!. Then there's deeds of grant (£25 a year, minimum 10 years payable in advance) and interment fees, in Hull that's currently £820! And don't get me talking about wreaths and flowers! Still you don't have to fork out all that; there are cut price jobs for under £1000. If you own your own patch of garden you can always go under the roses wrapped in a blanket for that stay-at-home interment, just make sure you're at least two foot under the sod.
The chapel here is a grade 2 listed building from the early 1900's, it'll cost you a £70 'chapel fee' to hire it! Have a nice day!
No shortage of fees, and yet it's probably best to take care of it well in advance. You just don't know if your family will be left at the hands of a disreputable funeral director looking to make as much money as possible at a time when they're not emotionally able to see so themselves.
ReplyDeleteIt's illegal to bury a human body in Pasadena, California, where I live. Just across the city line in unincorporated Altadena, there's a lovely cemetery called Mountain View. Getting kind of full.
ReplyDeleteRather like the ancient Romans.
Delete