Direct cremation
What is a direct cremation?
A direct cremation is NOT a funeral.
A direct cremation is where the body of the person who has died is taken straight to the crematorium and cremated without a funeral ceremony.
Where online direct cremation providers are used, it is the most pared back of disposal services, a straightforward transfer from A to B, with minimal involvement by staff and none from bereaved families.
If you choose an online direct cremation provider, you won’t even meet the people involved. The paperwork is completed and returned by post, the cremated remains will be delivered to your doorstep some weeks later.
There is no choice of crematorium, nor of the time of the cremation. No visits to the chapel of rest. It’s a ‘no funeral’ service, and therefore is priced differently – a direct cremation is generally significantly cheaper than an attended funeral.
Over the last few years, the number of people choosing direct cremation has increased significantly, with many people buying a ‘funeral’ plan which is in fact a pre-paid direct cremation plan.
The latest Sun Life Cost of Dying Report 2025 suggests 20% of all funerals are now direct cremations. That’s one in every five deaths resulting in a direct cremation now, with quite possibly even more as the many pre-paid direct cremation plans come into fruition over the coming years. Nobody is quite sure why.
The marketing departments of many direct cremation providers seem to think the attraction of direct cremation is the much lower cost, which is often less than £1,500, rather than around £4,000 for a more conventional type of funeral. For many families in these difficult times, money is the determining factor, and of course some people may have no option but to choose the lowest cost service when someone dies.
Anecdotally, most funeral directors will tell you that many clients who choose a direct cremation could easily afford to pay for a traditional funeral, but simply don’t want to. This could be for all kinds of reasons, but nobody has yet done any research to establish what these are.
We think the reason for the huge rise in direct cremations is more that the kind of traditional funeral we are all familiar with doesn’t feel right, and doesn’t feel like good value for money. And without realising that funerals can be beautiful, individual and personal if you have a brilliant funeral director working with you, many people fall for the cynical marketing of a direct cremation instead.
The very clever messaging of online direct cremation providers tells us that a direct cremation takes away ‘all of the fuss of a funeral‘, and saves your family loads of money. This taps straight in to the unassuming nature of many older people who don’t want to feel like a burden, and cynically encourages a quiet disappearing rather than a public ceremony to honour and celebrate their life.
The long term effects on mental health and wellbeing of bereaved people being denied a public, communal goodbye is, as yet, unknown, but we very much doubt that there will be any benefits. Quite the opposite.
Our advice, if you want or need to organise a direct cremation, is to speak to your local funeral director.
They will be able to offer you this service, with the added advantage of everything taking place locally, with the services and staff of a local company involved, and the advice and support of an experienced funeral team.
What do you need to know about direct cremation?
Essentially that once the person has died, that’s it. You won’t see them again; you won’t be in the presence of their body again. Any public farewell will take place without their body present.
You will probably not know who is collecting the body, nor when, nor whereabouts they will be taken to, or how they will be looked after there, or how long they will stay there before being cremated.
You may not know the date and time of the cremation, nor whereabouts it will take place – it could be in a crematorium hundreds of miles from where the person died, involving a long distance journey by van, often with several other people who have died.
It may also be a significant time before the cremated remains are returned to you, sometimes many weeks.
None of this may matter to you. If any of it does, but you still prefer the idea of a direct cremation to a traditional funeral, or if you feel direct cremation is the only choice within your means, then as we have said above, we strongly recommend choosing a local, independent funeral director rather than an online provider and talking to them about any of your concerns.
All funeral directors can offer this service, and you will have the added reassurance that the person who has died is being cared for locally, by local people who will be there to speak to you in person if you have any questions. They will be able to suggest ways of you saying goodbye, offer ideas for commemorating your person, and may be able to provide you with additional services while keeping costs to a minimum for you.
One thing to be aware of is that you will normally be asked to pay for the full costs involved before the direct cremation takes place.
What might you want to take into consideration?
If you are thinking about direct cremation, either for your own future funeral or for the funeral of someone you love, you will need to consider the impact that the absence of a funeral ceremony might have on family and friends.
A funeral is for those who are left behind when someone dies. It is the opportunity for those who love you to be among others who care about you to say goodbye. Taking away this opportunity by choosing a direct cremation takes away this important rite of passage from those who may really need it.
As a society we are accustomed to a public ceremony with a coffin present which enables us to begin to process the loss of one of our community. A direct cremation does away with this, and some people might find this extremely difficult. It is important to talk to those closest to you to discuss your thoughts and any implications your choice might have.
Some people may really want to visit the person who has died before they are cremated. Some may balk at the idea of there being no final rites and rituals. Some people might worry about where the person is taken to, and how their body is being treated. Some may feel that being in the presence of the coffin at a funeral ceremony is important in order to really appreciate the reality of the death, while others may feel a need to have a collective gathering, where those who knew and loved the person can come together and share their grief and support each other in their sadness.
Some people may have strong religious reasons for wanting a funeral ceremony. Some people just want a chance to say goodbye at a funeral. For all of these reasons, and others, there may be a strong resistance to the idea of a direct cremation. Think carefully before coming to a final decision that may have a prolonged effect on people who love you.
Separating the goodbye from the disposal
Those who choose to have a direct cremation can organise a commemorative event anywhere, and anytime without the constraints of a venue that will allow a coffin to be present.
This is appealing to some people, and all of the elements that make a really meaningful funeral can be incorporated into a memorial ceremony – the music and poetry and memories and stories can all be shared just as they would have been at a funeral.
The knowledge that there will be a memorial ceremony of some kind might help allay some of the concerns of family and friends and help people find a way of saying goodbye to the person who died.
Alternatively, you can choose to commemorate the person in any way you like; a family trip to somewhere special to you all, a gathering in a favourite pub or restaurant, a party at home – the choice is yours. You can have the ashes present or not, it’s entirely up to you.
One question that you may want to ask yourself however – just who is going to organise this lovely farewell….?
Who to choose?
All of the funeral directing companies on our Recommended list offer direct cremation as an option, and most UK funeral companies have now added direct cremation to their services.
There are also a multitude of direct cremation specialist companies who have appeared online in recent years.
It is important to remember that the funeral industry in the UK is unregulated and there is no way of assessing the calibre of the online providers. We suggest that if, after browsing a website, you don’t feel you have a clear idea of the identity of the owner or how your person would be looked after, avoid them. Likewise, if there is no postal address of a head office, avoid them.
We currently recommend only one specialist direct cremation service, Simplicita Cremations, the company founded by Nick Gandon, the pioneer of direct cremation.
Questions to ask a direct cremation provider
We have put together a document that might be helpful if you or someone you know is considering direct cremation.
Click on the link below to open the PDF, or go to our Downloads section to download a copy.
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