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The Cost of Saying Goodbye 2015

Burial and cremation charges in Scotland 2015

Costs for burials and cremations have increased in Scotland in 2015 while more people seek advice from their local CAB than ever before about paying for funerals.

Burial charges have increased on average by 10% in 2015 when compared to 2014 levels.

  • The highest increase was in Aberdeenshire where fees were increased by 42% to £1,411
  • East Dunbartonshire remains for the second year running the most expensive place in Scotland for a burial where charges have increased by 3% to £2,785
  • The Western Isles remain for the second year running the cheapest place in Scotland for a burial at £694, an increase of 2% on 2014 charges

Cremation charges have increased on average by 5% in 2015 when compared to 2014 levels.

  • The highest increase was by the City of Aberdeen where the charge increased 15% to £653
  • Perth and Kinross remains the most expensive local authority run crematorium where charges have increased by 3% to £749
  • Inverclyde council is the cheapest local authority for a cremation in Scotland despite a 5% increase in fees where charges are £512

Cremation fees are around 50% cheaper than those for burials resulting in an average cost difference of £605

The scrapping in May 2015 of the £170 charge for a medical cremation form by the Scottish Parliament will save bereaved Scots in the region of £5.5 million a year

An increase of 35 per cent on the number of advice sessions has taken funeral issues to the highest level it has ever been for the CAB service

The postcode lottery nature of burial and cremation fees remains widespread across Scotland:

  • Burials vary by as much as £2,091 between councils
  • Cremations vary by as much as £378 between crematoriums
Author
Fraser Sutherland
Publication date
June 2015
Publication type
Policy
Number of pages
8