Son starts cut-price undertaking to carry out mum’s funeral
Son starts cut-price undertaking to carry out mum’s funeral
Garage owner Mark Roebuck, 44, was so shocked at the prices quoted for his mum Christine’s funeral he decided to start his own low cost firm.
A grieving son set up his own cost-cutting undertakers’ business – so he could carry out his mum’s funeral.
Garage owner Mark Roebuck, 44, was so shocked at the prices quoted for his mum Christine’s funeral he decided to start his own low cost firm.
And after fulfilling her final wishes in June last year his company, Cremdirect, has now carried out over 60 funerals for other people.
Mark, who lives in Romiley, Stockport, with wife Shelley and children Libby, nine and Oliver, 16, said: “We set up when my mum died because I was disgusted at the cost of funerals.
“I had looked at how much undertakers and crematoriums charged and decided to set up my own company, so I could do my mum’s funeral. Also I was worried that my dad was going to have to try and find three grand, which was the price we’d been quoted. Being able to do my mum’s funeral myself at no cost was a great relief to him. We’re not skinflints, but I knew my mum would rather money was left for her grandchildren rather than spent on a lavish funeral for her.”
The funerals he organises cost on average £1750 – £1350 cheaper than the average cost with other companies.
They only offer cremations as burials prove too costly.
Last month the MEN revealed the shocking numbers of people given so-called ‘paupers’ funerals’ by councils after their families were unable to pay for a service themselves.
We also revealed how the cost of funerals has risen by 60pc in the last eight years – with the average now costing £3,100.
Along with business partner Adrian Tweedie, the firm based in Compstall, Stockport, carries out funerals without knowing if grants the families have applied to the Department for Work and Pensions for will be paid – absorbing the cost themselves if the government doesn’t pay out.
Mark said: “We ask for a deposit of around £500 before the funeral and only do cremations because burial is so expensive. So far, in about ten per cent of cases, the DWP grants have been rejected, so we don’t make any money on those.
We try to keep overheads as low as possible and the profit margins are small but it means we would be able to help more people. The problem with the system at the moment is you don’t find out if the DWP will pay out until about six weeks after the funeral.
“I think people should be able to find out a lot sooner if they will be eligible for the grant, it is not fair on the families.”
