austerity britain sees the return of the paupers funeral.. the AA grumpy column

[AA grumpy]

good evening i start tonights column on a bit of a GRAVE subject

(dont start with the funeral jokes grumps too late at night ED )

alright i,ll just do the column then

Rising funeral costs mean tens of thousands of poor people struggle to pay for services, with some so desperate they are resorting to bury their loved ones in their garden, MPs have heard.

Labour backbencher Emma Lewell-Buck urged ministers to tackle “funeral poverty, and said that people are being forced to sell their belongings or falling into debt by taking out high-interest payday loans to fund a decent send-off for their relatives.

A number of companies are cashing-in on these problems, offering cut-price funerals, including direct cremations that have no formal service attached to them. Others people opt for a public health funeral - what used to be called a pauper’s funeral -where the local authority must step in to help.

The MP for South Shields suggested that a UK-wide review of funeral service costs should be launched, and a reform of social funds designed to help low-income households.

Funeral directors should also be required to tell bereaved loves ones the price of a “simple service, to make it easier for people to choose an affordable ceremony, she said.

Citing a Royal London report during a 10-minutes rule motion on Funeral Services, Ms Lewell-Buck said that 100,000 of the 500,000 families bereaved each year struggle to afford the cost of a funeral.

Emma Lewell-Buck has urged ministers to tackle Emma Lewell-Buck has urged ministers to tackle "funeral poverty"

She said the problem is being exacerbated by the price of services rising faster than inflation, with the average funeral costing as much as £3,551. However, issues over burial space in some areas have seen fees approach £7,000.

Ms Lewell-Buck told the Commons how one of her constituents was unable to pay for a headstone for her brother’s grave, and approached the Citizens Advice Bureau with unmanageable debts,

She ended up applying for a payday loan and the cost of repaying this debt had quickly got out of control.

"Sadly her story is not an isolated one. As well as rising debts, we're also seeing people turn to alternatives to the traditional funeral.

"Some are holding do it yourself funerals and even having to bury their relatives in their back garden.

"Increasingly bereaved individuals who simply cannot afford a formal service are faced with having to opt for a public health funeral - or what used to be referred to as pauper's funerals," she said



Addressing the issue of pauper’s funerals, she said: "People have no control over this service and of course there is a cost to the local authority as well."

Ms Lewell-Buck said the review would need to consider the amount of burial space available, how deaths are registered, the impact of competition between private and local authority crematoria, and the support offered via the benefits system to people who cannot afford a service.

Regarding state support from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for low-income households, the MP said the social fund is "well overdue for reform".

“Applications are lengthy and confusing and especially for somebody who is just bereaved. They can also take around 17 days to have an outcome.

She added that the Department should no longer ask for an invoice for claims, as people who want to arrange funerals quickly have to agree to costs before they are sure if they qualify for help.

"This is worrying when we know 50% of claims are rejected - about 30,000 a year," she said.

Rising funeral costs mean poor people are forced to 'bury relatives in their back garden', says Labour MP - Home News - UK - The Independent

AAG

joking apart its disgusting that in these so called modern times people cannot afford a decent send off for their loved ones .

indeed when the mother in law passed away a couple of weeks ago the co op wanted £3,950 for a cremation funeral and the daughter in law had to find £500 upfront before the funeral could be arranged.

and has to pay the rest admitedly over 12 months but this is a debt they cannot really afford on benefits.

its absolutly diabolical that people are having to turn to the council to arrange paupers funerals and loved ones are lying in unmarked graves

with only the undertakers and the vicar to see them off.

even in death theres no getting away from tory austerity cuts even in scotland the council are doing 10 paupers funerals a week at an enormus cost to the council or burying their loved ones in the garden as d.i.y funerals not that this will bother the rich tory toffs in their leafy surrey houses they are motivated by greed not concience.

i think as burial spaces become a premium and burial land and cemetaries become less as they get fuller cremations will eventually become the only option unless the idea of grave recycling is taken up that is reusing a grave after 99 years putting a new coffin on top of an old one though there would have to be a layer of soil between one coffin and the other or reverting former cemeteries back to agricultual land after 99 years by adding another 6ft of soil to the original layer and with a stipulation that the maxium ploughing depth must be 3ft and the whole field must be checked after ploughing to ensure nothing has come to the surface.

we seriously need to look to the future as to the disposal of the dead and cremation is i think the best way of dealing with loved ones.

[FourPart]

The cost of funeral has always been grossly excessive for what it is. It's one of those things that take advantage of people when they're at their most vulnerable.

Just as with Life Insurance plans (which are really nothing of the sort - they're savings plans) which you see advertised on T.V., there is, more often than not, the small print clause that the plan only becomes effective after you've been paying in for at least 2 years and would become null if you miss any payments.

Yes, I would expect a burial to cost more, as in that instance you are purchasing a plot of land, just as if you were purchasing property, but a cremation is a different matter altogether. What's even more stupid is that if you opt to go for the modern eco-friendly option of using a papier-mache coffin, it costs even more than a wooden one, and a wicker one about twice as much again. Personally I'd be content to use my old wardrobe.

[Oscar Namechange]

FourPart;1469180 wrote:

What's even more stupid is that if you opt to go for the modern eco-friendly option of using a papier-mache coffin, it costs even more than a wooden one, and a wicker one about twice as much again. .


No It doesn't. Where have you got that from ?



Coffin Prices

http://www.cffunerals.co.uk/cost-s

[Saint_]

Too bad we can't do what they used to do around here. Just go out to the boonies, make a funeral pyre and place the loved one on top. Then sit back, drink alcohol with the family and friends and tell stories of the loved one.

[Oscar Namechange]

Saint_;1469186 wrote: Too bad we can't do what they used to do around here. Just go out to the boonies, make a funeral pyre and place the loved one on top. Then sit back, drink alcohol with the family and friends and tell stories of the loved one.




Hell, why not go the whole hog and add a spit roast and some Tins on the Barbi

[Betty Boop]

FourPart;1469180 wrote: The cost of funeral has always been grossly excessive for what it is. It's one of those things that take advantage of people when they're at their most vulnerable.

Just as with Life Insurance plans (which are really nothing of the sort - they're savings plans) which you see advertised on T.V., there is, more often than not, the small print clause that the plan only becomes effective after you've been paying in for at least 2 years and would become null if you miss any payments.

Yes, I would expect a burial to cost more, as in that instance you are purchasing a plot of land, just as if you were purchasing property, but a cremation is a different matter altogether. What's even more stupid is that if you opt to go for the modern eco-friendly option of using a papier-mache coffin, it costs even more than a wooden one, and a wicker one about twice as much again. Personally I'd be content to use my old wardrobe.


You need to buy a decent quality cardboard coffin or you'll find yourself on the deck before you reach the grave or crematorium. Cheap imported cardboard coffins are known to be unable to carry any great weight and are most undertakers nightmare. That's why a good quality one is more expensive at the moment.

[Snowfire]

Betty Boop;1469193 wrote: You need to buy a decent quality cardboard coffin or you'll find yourself on the deck before you reach the grave or crematorium. Cheap imported cardboard coffins are known to be unable to carry any great weight and are most undertakers nightmare. That's why a good quality one is more expensive at the moment.


I was hoping to keep the box the fridge came in, until it was needed.

If Im gonna be cremated, cant I be wrapped in an old dust sheet ?

[Betty Boop]

Snowfire;1469195 wrote: I was hoping to keep the box the fridge came in, until it was needed.

If Im gonna be cremated, cant I be wrapped in an old dust sheet ?


You'd have to ask the funeral director what he's willing to cart about, there may be practical reasons for an enclosed box :-2 I'll have to ask me mate next time I see him.

[Saint_]

Oscar Namechange;1469187 wrote: Hell, why not go the whole hog and add a spit roast and some Tins on the Barbi


Hey! What do ya think we are? Barbarians?

[Oscar Namechange]

Saint_;1469200 wrote: Hey! What do ya think we are? Barbarians? :wah::wah::wah:

[FourPart]

How about a Burial at Sea. All you need is a Dinghy, a Sack & a few Bricks. Eco friendly too - gives the little fishies something to munch on.

[tude dog]

Cremation