Funeral Price Survey — 2011

Survey  description

During the spring of 2011, the FCA of the Finger Lakes surveyed funeral prices in its service area. This area, centered on Tompkins County, includes parts of eight surrounding counties. Businesses operating a total of 38 funeral homes provided their General Price Lists (GPLs) by submitting them either electronically or in post-paid envelopes provided by the Alliance. We gratefully acknowledge this cooperation.
     
Prices for 14 types of services and two categories of merchandise were extracted from each price list. In addition, an index related to the price of a full-service funeral was compiled for each funeral home. These data are presented in two tables. The survey reports prices in effect when price lists were submitted by each funeral home, between February and April 2011. The effective dates on these lists ranged from November 2007 to March 2011. For current prices, it is necessary to consult the funeral home of your choice.

Table 1 lists prices for the set of four limited services that already include a funeral home’s Basic Arrangements charge. These four services are direct cremation, immediate burial, forwarding of remains from one funeral home to another, and receiving of remains by one funeral home from another. This table also shows prices of the cheapest casket and/or alternative container and the cheapest vault as well as the full-service funeral price index for each funeral home. This index represents the total price of the nine services (no merchandise) listed in Table footnote (g).

Table 2 shows the Basic Arrangements charge at each funeral home, followed by the prices of components of full-service funerals, the full-service funeral price index, and footnotes.

For additional information see Comments on Survey Results, Compliance of General Price Lists with the FTC Funeral Rule, Inconsistencies within General Price Lists, and About consumer protection by the FTC Funeral Rule.

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