Essential funeral - a simple choice
An essential funeral is a simple, lower-cost option with everything needed for a funeral.
The price will depend on location and the choices you make.
£2,100 to £2,445
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A low-cost attended funeral with some restrictions
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Arrange online, on the phone or in a funeral home
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We have local roots, a national network and a name you can trust
Essential funeral - a simple choice
An essential funeral is a simple, lower-cost option with everything needed for a funeral.
The price will depend on location and the choices you make.
£2,100 to £2,445
-
A low-cost attended funeral with some restrictions
-
Arrange online, on the phone or in a funeral home
-
We have local roots, a national network and a name you can trust
Includes
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Bringing the person who has died into care, treating them with respect and dignity, before transporting them to the crematorium or place of worship.
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Visit the person who has died in the chapel of rest by appointment during office hours.
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The date and time of the funeral will be agreed with the funeral director.
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An attended burial or cremation.
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Our choice of ceremonial vehicle.
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The cortege route will travel directly to the crematorium or burial ground, within 20 miles of the arranging funeral home and meet you there.
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A free call from our Funeralcare Bereavement Support Team offering bereavement support and help with any legal issues.
Does not include
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We’re unable to arrange additional choices for you, such as flowers and stationery. However, it does give you the flexibility and freedom to organise these services yourself, if you’d like to include them for the funeral.
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Specifying the type of coffin you'd like. All essential funerals include our basic coffin.
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A service at one location only. This could be at the crematorium, graveside or one of our funeral service venues.
If you want to arrange a funeral with more flexibility and less restrictions, look at our tailored funeral.
Includes
-
Bringing the person who has died into care, treating them with respect and dignity, before transporting them to the crematorium or place of worship.
-
Visit the person who has died in the chapel of rest by appointment during office hours.
-
The date and time of the funeral will be agreed with the funeral director.
-
An attended burial or cremation.
-
Our choice of ceremonial vehicle.
-
The cortege route will travel directly to the crematorium or burial ground, within 20 miles of the arranging funeral home and meet you there.
-
A free call from our Funeralcare Bereavement Support Team offering bereavement support and help with any legal issues.
Does not include
-
We’re unable to arrange additional choices for you, such as flowers and stationery. However, it does give you the flexibility and freedom to organise these services yourself, if you’d like to include them for the funeral.
-
Specifying the type of coffin you'd like. All essential funerals include our basic coffin.
-
A service at one location only. This could be at the crematorium, graveside or one of our funeral service venues.
If you want to arrange a funeral with more flexibility and less restrictions, look at our tailored funeral.
Speak to your local funeral arranger
In person
Speak to your local funeral director
On the phone
Call our central care team
Online
Arrange a funeral online
Additional products and services
For an additional cost you can add the following to the essential funeral:
- embalming
- remembrance items including headstones and keepsakes
If you choose an essential funeral you cannot:
- visit the person who has died out of normal office hours
- have a cortege - we'll travel directly to the crematorium or burial ground and meet you there
- use Co-op colleagues to carry the coffin
- choose an alternative coffin
- choose an alternative ceremonial vehicle
- use Co-op to arrange additional items such as flowers or order of service, but you can do this yourself
What clients say about us
Costs and payment
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How much it costs
The price of an essential funeral costs between £2,100 and £2,445, depending on where you live and what you want.
This does not include the cost of third party fees. They’re costs that do not come from us, things like crematorium, officiant and grave digger fees.
To find out more about burials costs:
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How to pay
Within 2 days of making the arrangements you’ll be asked to make a payment.
We’ll discuss what you need to pay, and when, with you when you make the arrangement.
We accept cash, credit or debit card as well as Apple Pay or Google Pay payments. If you have an invoice, you can pay for a funeral.
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Help is available
If you need help to pay for the funeral, check if you could get:
- help covering some costs with government support
- a loan from our partners at Funeral Safe
We’ll discuss what you need to pay, and when, with you when you make the arrangement.
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Check if you need probate
Probate is the legal process of dealing with someone's home, money and possessions after they have died. When you arrange a funeral with us, we can help you understand if you need probate.
Our other funerals
Some common questions
Although the essential funeral is our cheapest full-service funeral, it’s important you know that quality isn’t compromised. We guarantee to provide our usual outstanding levels of care and standards for the person who has died. We have direct burial and direct cremation options that cost even less, as these don’t include a service.
If you choose our essential funeral, contact your local Co-op funeral director, who will help you to make sure the funeral takes place exactly as you'd wish. Although this simpler funeral means there are restrictions to what you can personalise, we'll do our best to create a service that reflects the person who has died.
This simpler funeral costs between £2,100 and £2,445 depending on where you live in the UK. In addition to this, there will also be some third-party costs which are paid to other organisations. These can include fees for a celebrant or minister, and fees for the cemetery or crematorium. On average in 2020 our clients paid £1,108 in third party fees but this is a national average and may not reflect the price you might pay in your local area. To find out how much an essential funeral may cost where you live, use our funeral cost calculator
Helpful links
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