The cost of a funeral has risen 3%, increasing the shortfall between average provision made by the deceased and the cost of the funeral to £2,449, the annual Cost of Dying report has found.
Those organising funerals now have to cover 66% of the total cost, with the cost of the flowers, memorial, wake and such rising to £2,000, up 9.1% on 2014, the latest edition of the annual report found.
Of the 17% given "notable financial concerns" by the cost of a funeral, half had to borrow money, with 21% borrowing from friends or relatives while 14% had to sell belongings.
The total cost of dying on average is put at £8,126, with £3,693 on the funeral, and £2,433 on the cost of hiring a professional to administer the estate.
The total shortfall of funeral poverty across the UK amounts to £237m, up £45m on the 2014 report.
The report, commissioned by SunLife and the Dying Matters Coalition was based on an online survey of 1,507 UK adults responsible for planning a funeral and administering an estate within the last four years.
In addition the report used 100 telephone interviews of funeral directors and data from independent funeral directors gathered by Golden Charter.
Among those organising funerals 99% didn't know all the deceased's wishes including 31% who didn't know if they would have wanted a cremation or burial.
SunLife have launched a website called My Perfect Send-Off to help create a smart document to cover all funeral and related arrangements, available for anyone to use.
Claire Henry, chief executive of the Dying Matters Coalition said: "We need to change the nation's approach to dying and planning ahead, so that all of us become better at making our end of life wishes known and asking our loved ones about theirs.
"Talking more openly about dying and planning ahead, including through discussing your funeral wishes, can help us to get our wishes met and spare our loved ones from having to deal with the consequences if we haven't got our affairs in order."
Further reading:
Whole of Life: In danger of falling behind the times?
