The depressing rise of ‘direct cremations’

Twenty per cent of last year’s funerals in Britain were direct cremations – up from 14 per cent in 2020. Numbers are continuing to rise, fast, for this most affordable, clinical form of body disposal: cremations with no ceremony and no attendees. Daytime advertising campaigns put out by corporate firms such as Pure Cremation promote the peace of mind of sprightly 75-year-olds at their laptops, or in their conservatories with mugs of tea, who have just pre-paid for the direct cremation package. In the adverts they gush about the future family knees-up, with cupcakes and balloons, that their relatives will splash out on with the money saved by not paying for an attended funeral.

The helpful man on the phone at Pure Cremation, when I called the 0800 number to request a brochure, said he predicted that at this rate, within 20 years 50 per cent of the population will be choosing this option. Its direct cremation package costs £1,995, which he says is £2,300 cheaper than the average attended cremation or funeral.

It seems a lonely end for one’s mother or father, or indeed oneself – and actually quite expensive for what happens, which is basically waste disposal. Once the death certificate has been issued, your body is taken away in a van from wherever you died and driven to Pure Cremation’s crematorium in Andover, where family visiting and viewing are not permitted in the basic package (which 99 per cent of customers go for).

Dressed in whatever you happened to be wearing at the time of death, you’ll be put into a cheap coffin and refrigerated. On the company’s scheduled date, but with no specified timing, so your family won’t know when it’s happening, you’ll be taken straight to the incinerator.