Guernsey residents facing 'postcode lottery' on cost of burying loved ones

• Video report by ITV Channel's Roisin Gauson

Guernsey residents are facing a postcode lottery when it comes to the cost of burying their loved ones.

The price of a new grave in St Peter Port is more than five times higher than in any other parish.

It is also the only local option available if people want to lay their loved ones to rest in their home parish.

And even if the grave is already paid for, the cost of re-opening it can come as a shock to grieving families.

Tracey Dowinton, Principal Funeral Director, Argent Funeral Care says: "If you’re in the St Peter Port area and you want to be buried, then it’s going to be very expensive. If you’re in the upper parishes then funerals tend to be a lot less expensive.  If anyone mentions Le Foulon Cemetery for a re-opening, my heart sinks because I’ve then got to relay the cost of the re-opening of that grave, which is over £2,000."

That cost is to re-open an existing grave. If you want to buy a fresh plot, then the costs vary according to which parish you live in.

St Sampsons is the most cost effective. A new plot and burial there will cost £465. The most expensive of the subsidised parish cemeteries is Castel at £850.  But when you look at the same plot and burial at Le Foulon in St Peter Port, then the cost jumps up to £4799.

If someone specifies in their will that they want to be buried, then in Guernsey law, that is what has to happen. But if that will expressly requests burial at Le Foulon, then the cost of doing so can cause unnecessary stress to families and loved ones.

Jai Vaudin who is Director of Vaudin's Funeral Services says people are having to resort to fundraising to cover the costs.

“We have had a situation where sadly this lady had passed away, she’d actually made a will when she was about 18 and in her will she wanted to be buried and the family could not afford the plot. What happened was she had to be buried and she’d expressed that she wanted to be buried at Le Foulon and I think they ended up having to go to crowd funding to try to get the fees because they literally didn’t have anything.”

Why are the costs so much higher in St Peter Port than elsewhere in the island?

All but one of the parish cemeteries are subsidised, which means residents of that parish get a discounted burial rate. The one exception is St Peter Port. In 2004 the St Peter Port Constables decided to pull out of the subsidy scheme. They declined to comment to ITV News the reasons for that decision, but since then, they have had no further involvement and the upkeep and pricing has been managed by the States.

It has led to a gradual decline in burials in the area. In 2019 there were 35 burials, 10 of which were new graves. Last year there were just 20 burials, and only four were new graves. 

Funeral Directors say the majority of people affected are either opting for cremations, or for burial elsewhere. Only a handful of cemeteries offer plots to residents from outside the parish. And then it is at double or treble the price, leaving the residents of St Peter Port at another disadvantage.