What is a CMA Standardised Price List?

A CMA Standardised Price List is a one-page document every UK funeral director is legally required to publish, in a fixed format set out by the Competition and Markets Authority. Its purpose is simple: to make funeral prices directly comparable across providers, in a market where comparisons used to be almost impossible.

Where it came from

The CMA opened a market investigation into UK funerals in 2019. It found that bereaved families consistently overpaid because pricing was opaque, hard to compare, and often only disclosed once arrangements were already underway. The resulting Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021 made several remedies legally binding — the Standardised Price List was the centrepiece.

What it must show

The Order requires five mandatory sections:

1. Attended funeral — a single all-in price for a traditional funeral with a service, covering the funeral director’s charges only.
2. Unattended (direct) cremation — a single all-in price including the cremation fee.
3. Professional services fee — the funeral director’s charge for arranging the funeral, separated from coffin and hearse charges.
4. Additional services — itemised fees for things like limousines, viewing the deceased, embalming, premium coffins, and out-of-hours collection.
5. Third-party fees (disbursements) — typical local fees the funeral director will pay on the family’s behalf, including the cremation fee, burial fees, doctors’ certification, and clergy.

How to read one

The two headline figures — attended funeral and direct cremation — are the only ones that are directly like-for-like across providers. Everything else (additional services, regional disbursements) varies by case. When comparing two firms, start with those two figures and then look at the additional services that matter for the funeral you’re planning.

Where to find it

By law it must be displayed in any branch open to the public and on the funeral director’s website if they have one. Funeral Cost Index captures these published lists from each provider’s site and surfaces the figures on the search page and on each area page.