18th December 2025
Prepaid direct cremation prices have continued to rise, with some unattended plans now exceeding £2,000. Alongside the emergence of hybrid attended offerings, these developments raise important questions around value, transparency, and product design under the consumer duty.
Rising Costs in the Direct Cremation Market
Following Pure Cremation’s price increase at the end of last year, the highest-priced unattended prepaid direct cremation in the market has now exceeded £2,000. Direct cremations have become increasingly popular over the past few years but have also become more costly.
At the end of 2022, prepaid direct cremations were still available for under £1,000. Since then, average prices have increased by more than £250, with the lowest-priced product currently available at £1,395. Although inflationary pressures and rising cremation costs have contributed to these increases, providers will still need to evidence that their offerings continue to represent fair value in line with consumer duty.
The Emergence of Hybrid Attended Options
The market has also seen the emergence of a “hybrid” tier of plans, between direct cremations and traditional funeral plans. Often called attended direct cremations, these offerings typically allow a limited number of attendees (sometimes as few as 12) as well as restricted service durations of between 10 and 30 minutes. Services are frequently scheduled at off-peak times, such as early mornings.
Implications for Product Design and Transparency
The introduction of hybrid plans has expanded the range of options available to customers and gives an option for those seeking an attended service without the cost of a traditional funeral plan.
However, it also adds complexity to an already crowded product landscape. Customers are often presented with multiple traditional plan tiers alongside direct cremation options, and the addition of hybrid plans further complicates comparison across features.
This further highlights the need for transparency, clear product definitions and effective comparison tools during the purchase journey that allow customers to easily compare product features. Perhaps there is a need to shift towards more tailored purchase journeys, such as Dignity’s, where customers can actively tailor features and see how adding or removing features affects the overall cost.