There have been numerous reports in the press recently about bereaved families struggling to pay for funerals and being turned away by undertakers who fear funeral bills will be left unpaid.

The price of a basic funeral doubled in the last decade to nearly £2,000. This is largely due to increases in cremation fees and the rising price of burial plots.

Pamela Johnson was unable to bury her mother three weeks after her death because her family could not pay the £2,000 burial costs up front.

She said: “It’s heartbreaking. It’s bad enough losing your loved one, but not being able to lay them to rest is even worse. You don’t seem to be able to say goodbye properly.”

Undertaker Joel Kerr, whose funeral service in Hartlepool is owed £30,000 in unpaid fees, said his work “is getting more and more like a money lending service”.

The funeral director now asks families for a cash deposit of several hundreds of pounds.

He said: “We don’t want to do it because we provide a service for the families, and the families are struggling to pay, but unfortunately we’re a business at the end of the day and we’ve got to get the money in.”

The government does offer financial help for families struggling to fund funeral expenses.

Last year 40,000 grants of varying amounts were paid by the government to fund funerals. However, there is often a shortfall of hundreds of pounds.

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Editor, Third Age.