Funeral costs

Dying isn’t cheap. Our 2006 survey of funeral directors found the price of a typical funeral ranged from $5000 in provincial centres to over $7000 in Auckland. According to the Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand, the average cost of a funeral has crept up to $8800.

Around 50 percent of what you pay is the funeral director’s fee and another 20 percent is the price of the coffin. Local government charges (for plot and cremation fees) account for most of the rest.

Coffin costs

An untreated plywood coffin

An untreated pine or plywood coffin costs from $750 to $2400 depending on the design. Conventional coffins sell for similar prices – although they can range up to $5000. Simon Manning from Harbour City Funeral Homes says his company sells a standard MDF coffin for $1350.

Cardboard coffins are another (cheaper) option. We found cardboard coffins for sale at $350. However, not everyone stocks them. Lynda Hannah of Living Legacies doesn’t sell them because she hasn’t found a locally made product she thinks is good enough.

Embalming costs

Some funeral directors charge an all-in-one fee for their services; others have a lower fee and charge separately for costs such as embalming. Research by Otago University's Dr Cyril Schafer and Dr Ruth McManus estimates the average cost of embalming at between $565 and $675.

We think you should expect to pay a lower price if no embalming is done. While the funeral company may have expenses associated with preparing the body and keeping it cool, these should be less than the costs of embalming.

Council fees

Wellington City Council charges a slightly higher fee for burial at its natural cemetery than for a plot and headstone at the main cemetery: $2600 compared with $2360. The council says the difference is because of the larger land area used for natural plots, the extra labour in preparing the grave, and the costs of plants and organic compost.

Burials at Makara also have a $175 registration fee payable to Natural Burials. This is an unusual arrangement: councils don’t normally require a registration fee to be paid to a third party. Mark Blackham says the fee covers an engraved wooden plot marker and the work of his company in overseeing the cemetery.