Nearly £30K spent by councils on "Paupers' Funerals" in last two years
21 funerals were paid for by NI councils between 2016 and 2018
Just over £27,000 was spent on "paupers' funerals'' by local councils in Northern Ireland between 2016 and 2018, a mutual insurer has found.
The total cost of public health funerals across the UK in 2017-18 was £5,382,379, according to Royal London, which received responses from 275 local authorities to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.
Public health funerals, which are also known as paupers' funerals, are "no frills'' services provided by the local authority, which in general include a coffin and the services of a funeral director but do not include flowers, obituaries or transport for family members. Families can attend if they wish.
21 such funerals were carried out across Northern Ireland in the last two years, costing councils an average of £1,403.
Not all councils responded to the FOI request though, so the full extent of the issue is not known.
Armagh Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council had the lowest spend on funerals at £275. Newry and Mourne District Council spent an average of £600, while Lisburn and Castlereagh shelled out £910
Nearly a third (31%) of families who turned to their local council for a public health funeral did so because they were unable to foot the bill, Royal London found.
The mutual insurer said the average cost of a basic funeral is £3,757.
Other reasons for public health funerals included the deceased having no family, and families unwilling to pay for the funeral.
Louise Eaton-Terry, a funeral cost expert at Royal London, said: "More support is needed to help those struggling with funeral costs."