Ceremonial vehicle
The ceremonial vehicle is used in our essential funerals to take the coffin to the service. This high specification vehicle has been specially adapted for use on the day of the funeral.
Essential funeral - a simple choice
Our essential funeral is a simple, lower-cost option that provides everything needed for a funeral. This option might be suitable for those who want to keep costs down, or if the person who has died wanted a simpler send off.
Essential funeral - a simple choice
Our essential funeral is a simple, lower-cost option that provides everything needed for a funeral. This option might be suitable for those who want to keep costs down, or if the person who has died wanted a simpler send off.
What’s included in this simpler funeral service?
An essential funeral costs £1,895 in England and Wales and £1,675 in Scotland, not including third party fees. Although this is a simple and lower-cost funeral option, we guarantee to provide our usual outstanding levels of care and standards for your loved one. You can see what’s included below.
We'll care for you and your family by:
- meeting you to arrange this simpler funeral at one of our funeral homes or over the phone
- helping you complete any paperwork and liaising with all third parties on your behalf
- arranging the funeral at a time and date agreed between you and your funeral director
- enabling you to visit the person who has died in the chapel of rest during office hours
- helping you access support from our Bereavement Notification Service
- collecting the ashes after the funeral and keep them for 12 weeks for you to collect
We'll care for the person who has died by:
- bringing them into our care within a 50-mile radius, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- giving them the highest quality of care by trained funeral professionals in our specialist facilities
- dressing them in a simple white gown or their own clothes
- providing a basic coffin for the funeral
On the day of the funeral:
- your funeral director will be alongside you to ensure everything is carried out according to your wishes
- we’ll arrange for a service to be held at a crematorium or graveside of your choice, within a 20 miles of the arranging funeral home
- family members can choose to carry the coffin, or we can provide a wheeled bier to move the coffin if preferred
- we’ll provide transportation of the coffin to the crematorium or burial site in a ceremonial vehicle
Additional products and services
For an additional cost you can add the following to the essential funeral:
- embalming
- administration fee for creating an online memorial account
- remembrance items including headstones and keepsakes
If you choose an essential funeral you cannot:
- visit the person who has died out of normal office hours
- have a cortege - we'll travel directly to the crematorium or burial ground and meet you there
- use Co-op colleagues to carry the coffin
- choose an alternative coffin
- choose an alternative ceremonial vehicle
- use Co-op to arrange additional items such as flowers or order of service, but you can do this yourself
How to pay
When will I need to pay?
You'll need to pay 50% of the total estimated funeral costs within 48 hours of making the arrangement.
After the funeral, you’ll receive an invoice to be paid within 21 days. We don’t need a deposit if you have a solicitor’s letter or bankers draft confirming the funeral will be paid from the estate.
Paying from their estate
If you instruct Co-op Legal Services to carry out probate of the estate, they’ll pay us the cost of the funeral, providing there are sufficient assets that can be sold after. You might still have to pay an amount within 48 hours of arranging the funeral, but this will be reimbursed.
Find out how Co-op Legal Services can help you
How much does a funeral cost?
Funeral costs vary depending on where you live in the UK, and the choices you make for the funeral. Use our funeral cost calculator to find out how much a funeral might cost at your local Co-op funeral home.
Our other funerals
Some common questions
Although the essential funeral is our cheapest full-service funeral, it’s important you know that quality isn’t compromised. We guarantee to provide our usual outstanding levels of care and standards for the person who has died. We have direct burial and direct cremation options that cost even less, as these don’t include a service.
If you choose our essential funeral, contact your local Co-op funeral director, who will help you to make sure the funeral takes place exactly as you'd wish. Although this simpler funeral means there are restrictions to what you can personalise, we'll do our best to create a service that reflects the person who has died.
This simpler funeral costs £1,895 in England and Wales, and £1,675 in Scotland. In addition to this, there will also be some third-party costs which are paid to other organisations. These can include fees for a celebrant or minister, and fees for the cemetery or crematorium. On average last year (2020) our clients paid £1,108 in third party fees but this is a national average and may not reflect the price you might pay in your local area. To find out how much an essential funeral may cost where you live, use our funeral cost calculator