Families unable to afford to bury their loved ones in the UK.

Run_to_da_hills · 14-10-2012 01:05PM #1

Grieving families are leaving loved ones lying in hospital mortuaries for months because they cannot afford to bury them, it has been claimed. Relatives on benefits who have the responsibility of sorting out the funeral are finding the costs too high.

So they are having to leave them in hospital mortuary refrigerators until they can work out how to pay for the service. The average cost of a funeral is over £2,000 but the social welfare cap for funerals is just £700 and has remained unchanged for nine years.

I know funerals in the UK generally take much longer than over here but this is outrageous if true. What is the situation in Ireland if someone cannot afford a funeral / burial service?

DM Readers comment. Sounds familiar.

Storage is being paid for by muggins taxpayers. So not only do we have to pay for the upkeep and accomodation of the benefits classes when they're alive - we also have to pay for them when they're dead!

As has been stated, 700 pounds is on top of the basic costs of the funeral. Clearly all these scroungers want horse drawn hearses and hundreds of novelty wreaths - or why else would they turn their noses up at the basic service they could easily get with the money?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2217219/Funeral-costs-Bodies-dead-left-mortuary-months-families-afford-bury-them.html#ixzz29Go8mvSo

ejmaztec · 14-10-2012 01:10PM

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Grieving families are leaving loved ones lying in hospital mortuaries for months because they cannot afford to bury them, it has been claimed. Relatives on benefits who have the responsibility of sorting out the funeral are finding the costs too high.

So they are having to leave them in hospital mortuary refrigerators until they can work out how to pay for the service. The average cost of a funeral is over £2,000 but the social welfare cap for funerals is just £700 and has remained unchanged for nine years.

I know funerals in the UK generally take much longer than over here but this is outrageous if true. What is the situation in Ireland if someone cannot afford a funeral / burial service?

DM Readers comment. Sounds familiar.

Storage is being paid for by muggins taxpayers. So not only do we have to pay for the upkeep and accomodation of the benefits classes when they're alive - we also have to pay for them when they're dead!

As has been stated, 700 pounds is on top of the basic costs of the funeral. Clearly all these scroungers want horse drawn hearses and hundreds of novelty wreaths - or why else would they turn their noses up at the basic service they could easily get with the money?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2217219/Funeral-costs-Bodies-dead-left-mortuary-months-families-afford-bury-them.html#ixzz29Go8mvSo

Green bin?

seanmacc · 14-10-2012 01:12PM

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Grieving families are leaving loved ones lying in hospital mortuaries for months because they cannot afford to bury them, it has been claimed. Relatives on benefits who have the responsibility of sorting out the funeral are finding the costs too high.

So they are having to leave them in hospital mortuary refrigerators until they can work out how to pay for the service. The average cost of a funeral is over £2,000 but the social welfare cap for funerals is just £700 and has remained unchanged for nine years.

I know funerals in the UK generally take much longer than over here but this is outrageous if true. What is the situation in Ireland if someone cannot afford a funeral / burial service?

DM Readers comment. Sounds familiar.

Storage is being paid for by muggins taxpayers. So not only do we have to pay for the upkeep and accomodation of the benefits classes when they're alive - we also have to pay for them when they're dead!

As has been stated, 700 pounds is on top of the basic costs of the funeral. Clearly all these scroungers want horse drawn hearses and hundreds of novelty wreaths - or why else would they turn their noses up at the basic service they could easily get with the money?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2217219/Funeral-costs-Bodies-dead-left-mortuary-months-families-afford-bury-them.html#ixzz29Go8mvSo

If you can't afford a funeral over here the state pays for a burial and put you in an unmarked grave. They used to put you into the vaults in Glasnevin.

MagicSean · 14-10-2012 01:16PM

Don't you mean state won't pay for religious ceremony? I can't imagine a cremation, small gathering and an urn would cost over £700 for us that aren't going to heaven.

4zn76tysfajdxp · 14-10-2012 01:18PM

MagicSean wrote: »

Don't you mean state won't pay for religious ceremony? I can't imagine a cremation, small gathering and an urn would cost over £700 for us that aren't going to heaven.

It's even cheaper if you do it yourself and use a Dolmio jar for the urn.

minidazzler · 14-10-2012 01:21PM

Mariah Whining Hairdressing wrote: »

It's even cheaper if you do it yourself and use a Dolmio jar for the urn.

Don't keep it near your spices unlabeled...that was an awkward dinner in my nan's house.

Gran Hermano · 14-10-2012 01:25PM

ejmaztec wrote: »

Green bin?

I'd say brown bin, green is recycling whilst brown is composting and organic waste.

Grayson · 14-10-2012 01:53PM

MagicSean wrote: »

Don't you mean state won't pay for religious ceremony? I can't imagine a cremation, small gathering and an urn would cost over £700 for us that aren't going to heaven.

You'd be surprised. My father passed away after a stroke. But there was a post mortem done. This meant that the body had to be kept in a body bag (more money) and then presented in a coffin. We went for the cheapest one because a) he would have thought anything else was a waste of money and b) he was going to be cremated. c) it was wicker and he was an enviromentalist.

But the whole thing all together cost about €2000

mikemac1 · 14-10-2012 01:57PM

Whole thing is a racket

In Dublin anyway a lot of the directors are from the same family.
They say they compete with each other but do they realy?

Anyway, the government cares

850 euro grant available to meet the costs

OneArt · 14-10-2012 01:57PM

minidazzler wrote: »

Don't keep it near your spices unlabeled...that was an awkward dinner in my nan's house.

Puts a new spin on having relatives for dinner.

Dave0301 · 14-10-2012 02:00PM

If breaking bad has taught me anything it's that a plastic tub and hydrofluoric acid will solve all your body disposal needs!

Grayson · 14-10-2012 02:05PM

Dave0301 wrote: »

If breaking bad has taught me anything it's that a plastic tub and hydrofluoric acid will solve all your body disposal needs!

and your floor.

Kinzig · 14-10-2012 02:11PM

There was actually a case in Donegal once, way back , when a man died and there was no money to bury him, his body was left lying over the graveyard wall and the catholic church out of shame paid for his burial..

wmpdd3 · 14-10-2012 02:20PM

Dave0301 wrote: »

If breaking bad has taught me anything it's that a plastic tub and hydrofluoric acid will di-solve all your body disposal needs!

.

ejmaztec · 14-10-2012 02:26PM

Gran Hermano wrote: »

I'd say brown bin, green is recycling whilst brown is composting and organic waste.

Brown or green? It's a bit of a grey area, there might be some organs for recycling, shame to waste them.

Milk & Honey · 14-10-2012 02:27PM

In the nineteenth century a solicitor died in Dublin. There was no money to bury him and a fund was set up with subscribers asked to contribute a shilling each towards the costs of burial. When the Lord Chancellor was asked to contribute he said "A shilling to bury a solicitor? Here is a guinea, go and bury another 20 of them!"

Nodin · 14-10-2012 02:28PM

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I know funerals in the UK generally take much longer than over here but this is outrageous if true. What is the situation in Ireland if someone cannot afford a funeral / burial service?

DM....

They lose weight, and when they get a pain in their arse, they get themselves a tracksuit and take up residence in and around o'connell st.

ejmaztec · 14-10-2012 02:29PM

MagicSean wrote: »

Don't you mean state won't pay for religious ceremony? I can't imagine a cremation, small gathering and an urn would cost over £700 for us that aren't going to heaven.

Even a non-religious funeral can be spun for big bucks when the funeral director's livelihood is at stake.

BrokenArrows · 14-10-2012 02:42PM

I dont understand why people pay big money for a funeral.

When i die its going to be simply chuck me into the ground and cover it up. No paying money for a nicely carved box that goes into the ground.

padd b1975 · 14-10-2012 02:49PM

Kinzig wrote: »

There was actually a case in Donegal once, way back , when a man died and there was no money to bury him, his body was left lying over the graveyard wall and the catholic church out of shame paid for his burial..

:eek:

Link?

SEPT 23 1989 · 14-10-2012 02:50PM

Do we not have paupers graves anymore?

14-10-2012 02:51PM

Since when do funerals have to be paid for up front?

Kinzig · 14-10-2012 02:52PM

padd b1975 wrote: »

:eek:

Link?

I dont have a link for it but it was common knowledge amongst older people back in the eighties, I heard the story recounted several times by locals back then, even today the SVDP takes care of burials so nothings changed.

Irish Guitarist · 14-10-2012 03:00PM

Funerals are a scam. I hate the advertisements they have with the likes of Michael Aspel saying "don't leave your loved ones in debt having to pay for your funeral expenses". Piss off. Life is hard enough without worrying about what happens afterwards.

As well as the cost of the coffin in this country families feel like they have to go to the pub afterwards and spend an absolute fortune on drinks and sandwiches for the 'mourners'.

In Carlow there's even a pub and funeral home owned by the same people which are right next door to each other. You go in to look at your loved one lying in the coffin and then go next door to get drinks. It makes me sick.

When my father died the thoughts of things like this depressed me even further.

Paying for a coffin which then goes six feet under the ground and never seen again is an absolute waste. Cremation is a waste too as you're still put in a coffin which is then incinerated.

When I die I want someone to dig a hole in the ground, throw me into it, and then fill it back up with dirt. Either that or leave my corpse somewhere where wild animals can eat it.

ejmaztec · 14-10-2012 03:08PM

BrokenArrows wrote: »

I dont understand why people pay big money for a funeral.

When i die its going to be simply chuck me into the ground and cover it up. No paying money for a nicely carved box that goes into the ground.

That's why a lot of tight-fisted people check the jobs wanted ads, in the hope that they find a serial killer looking for work.

Kinzig · 14-10-2012 03:11PM

When I die I want someone to dig a hole in the ground, throw me into it, and then fill it back up with dirt. Either that or leave my corpse somewhere where wild animals can eat it

Its a sky burial you want

14-10-2012 03:26PM

Kinzig wrote: »

Its a sky burial you want

I thought that was what happened to TV personalities when their fame on the main channels had faded.

Irish Guitarist · 14-10-2012 03:31PM

Kinzig wrote: »

Its a sky burial you want

Last year I saw a documentary on the Tibetan Book Of The Dead. Their attitude to death, including burying their loved ones on mountain tops for vultures or other animals to eat, seemed healthier than what we have here.

Kinzig · 14-10-2012 03:48PM

Deleted User wrote: »

I thought that was what happened to TV personalities when their fame on the main channels had faded.

Thats the UK version of it:P

Kinzig · 14-10-2012 03:49PM

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

Last year I saw a documentary on the Tibetan Book Of The Dead. Their attitude to death, including burying their loved ones on mountain tops for vultures or other animals to eat, seemed healthier than what we have here.

I think so, its shows they are more in touch with nature than we are I think..

1ZRed · 14-10-2012 03:54PM

Milk & Honey wrote: »

In the nineteenth century a solicitor died in Dublin. There was no money to bury him and a fund was set up with subscribers asked to contribute a shilling each towards the costs of burial. When the Lord Chancellor was asked to contribute he said "A shilling to bury a solicitor? Here is a guinea, go and bury another 20 of them!"

Ha! Indeed.

*swirls brandy*

Families unable to afford to bury their loved ones in the UK.

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