"Confronting the discomfort around discussing death is essential in transforming attitudes towards funeral planning in the UK. By encouraging openness, providers can alleviate the financial burdens that often fall on families when loved ones pass."
The cost of living crisis has presented a challenge for the UK funeral plan market, as consumers focus on more pressing financial matters. Once the financial outlook improves, funeral providers must adapt to consumers’ evolving preferences for personalised ceremonies and eco-friendly arrangements.
UK Funeral Planning Market – Current Landscape
The cost of living crisis has squeezed household incomes, leading to reduced discretionary spending and impacting pre-need funeral plans, with consumers focusing on immediate financial needs. As financial conditions improve, opportunities in the funeral planning market should grow. Increased consumer focus on protecting finances could drive interest in prepaid options, as consumers look to lock-in prices to beat future inflation.
Without having open conversations with loved ones, people can pass away without expressing their funeral wishes or making financial provisions, leaving their close ones with unexpected costs. Encouraging openness about funeral planning is crucial, both for market growth and to ease the financial burden on families.
Funerals are shifting, especially among younger generations, as consumers move away from traditional norms towards personalised ceremonies that celebrate individuality. Providers must adapt to these evolving preferences, presenting opportunities for innovation and brand differentiation.
UK Funeral Planning – Market Statistics
- Funeral industry UK market size:Â The number of new prepaid funeral plans sold in the UK fell by 4.6% in 2023.
- UK funeral planning consumer behaviour: Among UK consumers with formal funeral arrangements, over nine in ten have made financial provisions to personally fund their plans.
- UK consumers attitudes towards funeral planning:Â Consumers are placing more emphasis on locking in prices due to cost of living pressures, with two-thirds saying this has encouraged them to arrange a prepaid funeral plan.
UK Funeral Planning Market Report – What’s Inside?
Key Topics Analysed in the Report
- The market size and forecast for the prepaid funeral plan market
- Engagement in funeral planning
- Factors behind choice of provider
- Interest in alternative funeral arrangements
- Information channels used to find out more about prepaid plans
- Attitudes towards funeral planning
Report Scope
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
This Report examines the UK market for funeral planning, with a particular focus on prepaid funeral plans. To a large extent, the latter compete with over-50s guaranteed acceptance plans, which are covered more extensively in a separate report, Over 50s Guaranteed Acceptance Life Insurance Market Report.
Prepaid funeral plans enable people to make arrangements and pay for a funeral in advance, either via a one-off upfront payment or by monthly instalments (normally over a set term ranging from six months to 25 or 30 years, depending on the customer’s age). Many providers offer a choice of plans to suit different customer needs and budgets, from fairly basic plans to those catering for more elaborate funerals.
There are two main types of prepaid funeral plan: those where the assets are held in trust (trust-based plans) and those which are backed by insurance (insurance-linked or insurance-backed plans). This difference is unlikely to be known, or perhaps of material interest, to most consumers.
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Executive Summary
- Opportunities for the Funeral Planning market
- Providers should emphasise the flexibility of direct cremation
- Providers can tap into growing desire for individuality
- Providers must address death taboo to reduce emotional and financial impact on families
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Market size & forecast
- Market predictions
- Market size and forecast
- Sales of prepaid plans continue to slump following the pandemic
- Graph 1: volume of new sales of prepaid funeral plans, 2013-23
- Plans in-force continues to rise
- Graph 2: prepaid funeral plans outstanding at year end, 2018-2023
- Demand for direct cremation continues to rise
- Funeral costs are on the rise again
- Graph 3: basic funeral costs, 2004-2023
- Pure Cremation remains the largest prepaid funeral plan provider
- Graph 4: estimated market shares of the top funeral plan providers, based on volume sales, 2023
- What consumers want and why
- Just one in 10 Brits say they’ve made formal funeral plans
- Graph 5: funeral planning status, 2024
- Most consumers with formal funeral plans have made financial preparations
- Graph 6: financial provisions for funeral, 2023-24
- Consumers are seeking new ways to personalise their funerals
- Graph 7: interest in alternative funeral arrangements, 2024
- Low cost and convenience lead the way when choosing a provider
- Graph 8: factors behind choice of prepaid funeral plan provider, 2024
- Funeral plan providers are the main source for product information
- Graph 9: consumers preferred sources of information on prepaid funeral plans, 2024
- Cost of living crisis is fuelling demand for prepaid funeral plans
- Graph 10: attitudes towards funeral planning, 2024
- Innovation and marketing
- Ad spend on funeral plans declines for second successive year
- Graph 11: total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on funeral director services, prepaid funeral plans and over-50s life insurance, 2019/20-2023/24
- Pure Cremation continues to lead in prepaid funeral ad spend
- Graph 12: total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on prepaid funeral plans, by provider, 2023/24
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Market Dynamics
- Market size
- Sales of prepaid plans continue to slump following the pandemic
- Graph 13: volume of new sales of prepaid funeral plans, 2013-23
- Challenging market conditions persist
- Plans in-force continues to rise
- Graph 14: prepaid funeral plans outstanding at year end, 2018-2023
- Market forecast
- Stable sales growth expected in funeral plans over the next five years
- Outlook for funeral planning market looks positive
- Macro-economic factors
- A decline in mortality rates could reduce plan usage in 2024
- Graph 15: number of deaths registered by week, England and Wales, 2024
- Cremation with a service remains the most popular type of funeral…
- …but demand for direct cremation continues to rise
- Funeral costs are on the rise again…
- Graph 16: basic funeral costs, 2004-2023
- …with further price rises anticipated over the next five years
- Inflation eases, but affordability concerns remain
- Graph 17: CPI inflation rate, 2021-24
- The cost of living continues to fuel cost-conscious behaviour
- Graph 18: perception of the state of the cost of living crisis in the UK, 2024
- Regulatory and legislative changes
- FCA regulation elevates industry standards
- Consumer Duty places the onus on firms to act
- The four key outcomes of Consumer Duty
- Impact of the CMA’s funeral market investigation
- Market share
- Market share remains stable year-on-year
- Graph 19: estimated market shares of the top funeral plan providers, based on volume sales, 2023
- Pure Cremation maintains position as the largest prepaid funeral plan provider
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What Consumers Want and Why
- Funeral planning status
- Just one in 10 Brits say they’ve made formal funeral plans
- Graph 20: funeral planning status, 2024
- Providers must address funeral planning taboo to grow engagement
- Funeral planning is considered a low priority across age groups
- Graph 21: funeral planning status, by age, 2024
- Providers must grow engagement among over-55s
- Funeral planning provisions
- The majority of those with formal funeral plans have made financial preparations
- Graph 22: financial provisions for funeral, 2023-24
- Nearly half have paid for their funeral in advance
- Highlight consumer overconfidence in savings to cover rising funeral costs
- More than a quarter anticipate relying on life insurance to cover funeral costs
- Alternative funeral arrangements
- Funeral personalisation becoming an increasing priority for consumers
- Graph 23: interest in alternative funeral arrangements, 2024
- Broad appeal of direct cremations can be tapped into by providers
- Younger generations are embracing alternative services
- Graph 24: interest in alternative funeral arrangements, by age, 2024
- Growing desire for individuality presents opportunities for providers to differentiate
- Providers must change perceptions about eco-friendly alternatives to increase interest
- Factors behind choice of prepaid funeral plan
- Low cost and convenience drive choice of provider
- Graph 25: factors behind choice of prepaid funeral plan provider, 2024
- Minimising costs continues to drive funeral planning decisions
- Consumers expect providers to deliver convenience
- Flexible payment options are seeing increased demand
- Prepaid plan information channels
- Funeral plan providers are the main source for product information
- Graph 26: consumers preferred sources of information on prepaid funeral plans, 2024
- Providers can leverage family discussions
- Social media is a key information source for younger consumers
- Graph 27: prepaid funeral plan information channels, by age, 2024
- Attitudes towards funeral planning
- Cost of living crisis is fuelling demand for prepaid funeral plans
- Graph 28: attitudes towards funeral planning, 2024
- Providers must emphasise stability of prepaid plans during economic uncertainty
- Two thirds of Brits prefer to shop around before purchasing a funeral plan
- Providers must demonstrate benefits of sustainability to drive wider adoption
- Prepaid funeral plan providers need to highlight how they differ from over-50s life insurance
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Innovation And Marketing Trends
- Advertising and marketing activity
- Ad spend on funeral plans declines for second successive year
- Graph 29: total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on funeral director services, prepaid funeral plans and over-50s life insurance, 2019-24
- Pure Cremation continues to lead in prepaid funeral ad spend
- Graph 30: total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on prepaid funeral plans, by provider, 2023/24
- Direct cremation providers lean heavily on advertising to boost market presence
- Co-op Funeralcare is tackling death taboo
- Co-op and Channel 4 launch Celebrity Send Off
- TV advertising remains the leading channel
- Graph 31: total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on funeral director services, by media channel, 2023/24
- Distinct Cremation teams up with Sue Cook in latest campaign
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Appendix
- Market forecast data and methodology
- Market forecast: underlying data
- Forecast methodology
- Report scope and definitions
- Market definition
- Abbreviations and terms
- Methodology
- Consumer research methodology
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
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