The only funeral cooperative in Normandy, opened in 2021 in Ifs (Calvados), offers services at prices much lower than traditional funeral directors. Advisors do not receive any percentage of sales, which they adjust to customer income.
Pine coffins, deadlines, ceremony at home… Often unknown, many alternatives exist to limit the price of funerals. Since its creation in June 2021, the only funeral cooperative in Normandy, located in Ifs (Calvados), has offered funeral services at a lower cost and adapted to household income.
Within the structure, funerals cost between approximately 3,000 and 3,500 euros, compared to 4,500 euros on average in traditional funeral homes.
To offer these prices, François Esquerré and Estelle Cosnier direct customers towards cheaper services than those traditionally offered.
“Many people think that we do not have the right to be buried in the ground. But it costs three times less than a vault “, explains François Esquerré, the president of the cooperative. If a concrete vault costs 1,600 euros on average, two places in a false one in the ground cost only 800 euros.
We explain to low-income families that we will have the same way of working
Estelle Cosnier
Funeral advisor
Furthermore, conservation care is not obligatory, contrary to popular belief. According to François Esquerré, only 5% of the deceased in the cooperative receive this care, compared to 40% in funeral homes.
Its amount reaches on average 400 euros.”A funeral toilet carried out by an embalmer costs around 195 euros“, he explains.
Estelle Cosnier (right) is one of the cooperative’s two funeral advisors: “We explain to low-income families that we will have the same way of working.” • © France Télévisions
This step is taken care of by funeral chambers when people die in hospital or in certain retirement homes. When the death takes place at home, it remains at the expense of the deceased or their family.
The cooperative also works with a French carpentry to manufacture pine coffins sold for between 400 and 1,200 euros. An alternative to oak models, accessible at a minimum of 1,000 euros.
“We don’t do a ceremony in church or at the crematorium if it costs too much. It is rather organized at the cemetery or in a garden. We don’t make a difference, defends Estelle Cosnier, funeral advisor. This is our ethics. We explain to low-income families that we will have the same way of working“.
Faced with the insistence of advisors, bereaved clients are sometimes pushed to pay much more than they can, even if it means going into debt. A practice that the cooperative is fighting against… “Whether we sell a coffin for 400 euros or 2,000 euros, it doesn’t change anything for us. We don’t get a percentage of the sales”explains François Esquerré.
Inspired by the Quebec model, the operation of funeral cooperatives is part of the social and solidarity economy. Since 2022, the seven French cooperatives have been brought together by a national federation. In Normandy, the two employees receive a fixed salary and are part of the cooperative’s 140 members.
In parallel with the funeral, the cooperative participates in various events to address the theme of death and its financial cost without taboo. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, December 5, by reservation, in a café in Caen (Calvados).
Paying for a funeral is part of the grieving process
François Esquerré
President of the cooperative
“We try to make people understand that it is important to share your funeral wishes while they are alive because the costs then fall on the families.” adds Estelle Cosnier. The cooperative provides a questionnaire free of charge.funeral arrangements” which clients can complete before their death.
It therefore proposes timetables to ease this particularly difficult stage for families with precarious incomes. “Paying for a funeral is part of the grieving process. Families want to pay quickly because they think their mourning can only begin after the funeral has been paid.concludes François Esquerré. Before that, they are not at peace“.
#cost #funeral #cooperative #euros #cheaper
