CMA Standardised Price List Explained

Everything you need to know about the CMA Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021 — the law that requires every UK funeral director to publish transparent, standardised pricing.

What Is the CMA Standardised Price List?

The CMA Standardised Price List (SPL) is a legal document that every UK funeral director must publish. It was introduced by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) following the Funerals Market Investigation, which found that the funeral industry was not transparent enough about pricing.

The order — known as the CMA Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021 — came into effect on 16 September 2021. It requires all funeral directors in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland to:

• Publish a Standardised Price List on their website (no more than one click from the homepage)
• Display a paper copy of the price list in their branch window
• Provide a printed copy to any customer who requests it
• Display prices for two standardised funeral baskets (attended and unattended)
• List additional options and their prices separately
• Disclose crematorium and cemetery fees if they arrange them

What's in the Price List?

The Standardised Price List must include two standardised baskets of funeral services, plus a list of additional options:

Attended Funeral Basket — 6 Items

These six items make up the standard attended (traditional) funeral. The current national average is £2,789.18, with prices ranging from £1,495 to £4,795.

1. Legal and administrative arrangements — Making all necessary arrangements, including registering the death, obtaining cremation certificates, and liaising with the crematorium or cemetery
2. Collection and transport of the deceased— Bringing the deceased into the funeral director's care from the place of death (within 20 miles)
3. Care of the deceased and facilities — Washing, preparing, embalming (if required), and dignified storage at the funeral home until the funeral
4. A suitable coffin or casket — A basic coffin that is appropriate for cremation or burial
5. Viewing by appointment — An opportunity for family and friends to visit and pay their respects at the funeral home before the funeral
6. Hearse to crematorium or cemetery — Transport of the coffin to the crematorium or cemetery (within 20 miles)

Unattended Funeral (Direct Cremation) Basket — 5 Items

The unattended basket covers items 1–4 above plus transport to the crematorium, but without a service, viewing, or hearse. The national average is £2,116.7.

1. Legal and administrative arrangements
2. Collection and transport of the deceased
3. Care of the deceased and facilities
4. A suitable coffin or casket
5. Transport to crematorium or cemetery

Additional Options

The price list must also include prices for optional extras that funeral directors commonly offer, such as:

Crematorium and Cemetery Fees

Funeral directors must also disclose crematorium or cemetery fees. These are third-party costs (disbursements) that the funeral director pays on your behalf. They include:

• Cremation fee — The cost of the cremation process itself (set by the crematorium, typically £300–£1,000)
• Doctor's cremation certificates — Medical certifications required before cremation can take place
• Burial fee — The cost of a grave plot and digging the grave (set by the cemetery or local authority)
• Minister or celebrant fee — The person who conducts the service, if separate from the funeral director

How to Read a CMA Price List

Using the CMA Standardised Price List to compare funeral directors is straightforward once you know what to look for:

1. Check the attended funeral total — This is the headline price for a traditional funeral with a service. Compare this across different providers.
2. Check the unattended funeral total— If you're considering direct cremation, this is the price that matters.
3. Compare individual item prices — Two funeral directors might have similar total prices but very different item breakdowns. One might charge more for the coffin but less for professional services.
4. Look at additional options — If you want extras (a better coffin, extra cars, printing services), check the prices before committing.
5. Check the small print — Some price lists note that prices are subject to change, or that certain items may vary based on circumstances.

Enforcement and Compliance

The CMA actively enforces the Standardised Price List requirement. Since the Order came into effect in 2021, the CMA has:

• Conducted compliance sweeps of funeral directors across the UK
• Issued formal warnings to non-compliant funeral directors
• Published enforcement notices requiring compliance within a specific timeframe
• Started court proceedings against persistent non-compliers

If you visit a funeral director and they do not display their Standardised Price List, or refuse to provide one, you can report them to the CMA. Compliance is not optional — it is a legal requirement.

How FuneralCompare Uses CMA Data

FuneralCompare collects CMA Standardised Price Lists from funeral directors across the UK and presents them in a consistent, easy-to-compare format. Instead of downloading individual PDFs from each funeral director's website, you can see prices from 100 providers in one place:

• Side-by-side comparison — Select multiple funeral directors and compare their prices item by item
• Live averages — See how each provider compares to the national and regional average
• Price change tracking — We track when a funeral director changes their prices, so you can see price trends over time
• Price alerts — Subscribe to receive email notifications when a funeral director you're interested in changes their prices
• Verified data — We source prices directly from the published CMA PDFs on each funeral director's website