What is a basic cremation?

How a basic cremation works

Once you call us, we arrange for a local, accredited funeral director near you to collect your loved one from the place of death — usually a hospital, hospice, care home, or their own home. They are taken into the funeral director’s care and looked after at the funeral home until the cremation.

In the meantime, the death is registered (we explain how on our registering a death page), and we complete all the paperwork required for cremation. There’s nothing you need to organise on the cremation day itself — no time to be at, no procession to follow, no service to attend.

On the day, your loved one is taken privately to a local crematorium for an unattended cremation. A few days later, the ashes are returned to you — by hand at the funeral home, or by tracked courier to your home. From that point onward, what you do with the ashes, and how and when you choose to remember the person, is entirely up to you.

Why families choose a basic cremation

Direct cremation has become the fastest-growing form of funeral in the UK, and the reasons families give are remarkably consistent.

It costs less. A basic cremation through us is £1,499, all-inclusive. A traditional funeral with a service typically costs three to four times that. With nothing to upsell at the funeral home, families know what they will pay before they pick up the phone.

It avoids the “set piece” that doesn’t always feel right. Many people are quietly uncomfortable with the format of a traditional funeral — the cars, the order of service, the curtain, the small congregation in a chapel. A basic cremation removes all of that and leaves you free to remember someone in a way that genuinely fits them.

It gives you time. Without the pressure of a date and a service to organise within ten days of the death, families have weeks or months to decide how they want to gather, where, and with whom — or whether to gather at all. Some hold a quiet wake at home; some scatter ashes on a meaningful walk; some never plan anything formal, and that’s a valid choice too.

The wishes of the person who died. An increasing number of older people specifically ask, in advance, that their family doesn’t spend money on a traditional funeral. A basic cremation honours that wish.

Is it the same as a “direct” cremation?

Yes — the words are interchangeable. “Direct cremation” is the term the funeral industry generally uses; “basic cremation” and “simple cremation” are the terms families more often use when searching online. They all describe the same thing: an unattended cremation with no funeral service.

What about a memorial later?

Most families who choose a basic cremation hold some form of remembrance afterwards — though the form varies enormously. Some examples we hear regularly:

• A meal at the family home with close relatives, on a date that suits everyone
• Scattering ashes at a place that mattered to the person — a coastline, a beauty spot, a garden
• A quiet service of remembrance at a local church, weeks or months later
• A celebration of life in a pub or village hall, with the order of service the family chooses
• Nothing formal at all — some families simply prefer the privacy of grieving in their own way

All of these are entirely separate from the cremation itself, which is one of the practical strengths of the basic cremation model: it doesn’t lock the family into anything.

Is a basic cremation right for our family?

For most families, the answer comes quickly. If you would like a traditional funeral with a service, mourners present, and a procession, a basic cremation is not the right arrangement — we’d gently say so on the phone.

If, on the other hand, what you want is a quiet, dignified cremation without the expense and choreography of a traditional funeral, this is exactly that. And if you’re not sure, calling us costs nothing — we’ll talk through the options without pressure.