According to the BBC in 2018, the funeral of a Big Issue North seller was paid for through donations raised online, but just how common are crowdfunded funeral services nowadays?

Donors and well-wishers made sure Peter Toulson received a "funeral befitting of a proud, dignified, lovely man". The magazine vendor died in December 2016, aged 53, and more than 300 people donated a total of £5,073 via JustGiving to cover the costs of the ceremony.

Crowdfunding for funerals is on the rise and not just for people who are alone in the world with no immediate family.

A report shared more recently by The Independent describes how within days of Daisy Haynes mother passing away at the age of 49, the only thing she could think was – how will the family pay for her funeral?

She said: “I just laid staring at the ceiling until three or four in the morning trying to figure out how to pay for it. There were no other family members who could help.”

Before she died her mother, Nicole Wilkins, had become severely depressed after the death of her husband six months earlier. She had next to no money when she died and had not taken out life insurance, so there were no funds to help fund her burial.

“Once we realised she had no life insurance, we tried to find out if we were eligible for some support – a funeral grant or something,” said Daisy. “But because we all work, we weren’t eligible for anything.”

Daisy was quoted almost £5,000 by the first funeral company. For that, they would simply transport her mother’s body to the ceremony.

“We couldn’t afford it, and every door we tried to ask for help was slammed back in our faces,” she says. “I was thinking I’d have to use my rent to pay for it.”

Sadly, she is one of many bereaved relatives who has been forced to publicly appeal for funds to bury or cremate their loved ones.

Figures passed to The Independent by GoFundMe show that new campaigns to raise money for funerals have increased by around a third in the past year. They claim that the fundraising website is currently running more than 100 campaigns for people who explicitly say they cannot afford to pay for a funeral.

In the end, Daisy’s family were forced to go to extremes to bury their mother – selling valuables, taking out loans and launching a crowdfunding campaign through GoFundMe.

Daisy and her family are not alone, more recently Eleesha Painter, 22, had to turn to the internet after she was unable to pay burial costs for her mother Ayshea Nicholls.

Eleesha Painter, whose mother died, said: “You don’t think about things like life insurance and you put it off. You live in a bubble, have your health and just assume the worst won’t happen to you. Then you need cover and don’t have it.”

The average cost of a funeral has increased for the 15th year in a row: it now stands at £4,271 – which marks a 4.7% jump since 2017. This adds up to a 122% increase since Sunlife first started tracking funeral pricing back in 2004.

Their research projects that funeral costs will carry on rising. If they continue to increase at the same rate as we’ve seen over the past decade, the average funeral will cost over £5,000 in five years’ time. Although Sunlife report that in some areas in the UK, funeral costs already exceed this predicted average. At £7,538 in 2018 London’s average burial cost is 57.1% higher than the national average and has increased by 3.1% since 2017. This is the highest of all the regions.

This report found that approximately 6 in 10 people had made specific financial provisions to pay for their funeral before they passed away.  But even so, not everyone who made specific financial provisions left enough to cover the full cost. In fact, just over half of those who’d put money aside for funerals made enough provision to cover the entire cost.

We’re currently in a situation where families are having to find between two and three thousand pounds to make up the shortfall and cover the cost of a loved one’s funeral (this is up from £2,356 in 2017, marking an +8.6% jump). With costs set to carry on increasing – reaching an estimated £5,120 in just 5 years’ time – the benefits of planning ahead are clear.

Life insurance or a funeral plan could go some way to cover the cost. The purpose of life insurance is to provide for your dependents in the event of your death. The lump sum from a policy could pay for your funeral or cover some of the associated costs.

If you’d like to discuss buying insurance and so you can leave your loved ones a lump sum that could go towards covering the cost of your funeral or other expenses, we are here to help. Simply call us today on 0800 612 8005 for a no obligation chat about your needs.