There is currently much discussion in the media about the cost of funerals and whether funeral directors are charging too much for their services. At Co-op Funeral Directors, part of Chelmsford Star Co-operative, we take great effort in keeping our costs down, recognising the difficulties that many families are facing when they have lost a loved one.
At the same time, we continue to invest in our premises, facilities and staff in order to provide an excellent service and the highest possible level of customer support.
Our prices are completely transparent, as you can see with our funeral fees for our Essex branches. Our fees start at £2,734 including VAT for our Simple Funeral. This includes bringing the deceased into our care and looking after them, providing a basic coffin and conducting the funeral service, all the arrangements and administration, as well as fees for the crematorium, minister and doctor, at a date and time chosen by us.
This increases to £2,939 if you would like a limousine included and to £3,464 for our Standard Funeral, which includes a Norfolk coffin and is held at a date and time that you choose.
You may opt to pay more for a different style of coffin or urn, burial instead of cremation, payment to a minister or celebrant, church service or crematorium or transport choices. Plus there are discretionary items to consider, including flowers, orders of service, a venue for the wake plus catering, an obituary and/or funeral notice in the local paper, and a memorial headstone.
The most important aspect is that we provide our clients with a total cost up-front, so there are no hidden surprises. We recognise people don’t like to shop around when they are grieving, so our aim is to ensure they get the best service from that initial phone call to us, taking away the stress and strain and helping people through the process, step-by-step.
Please contact your local funeral director for further information.