Leaders | Overcharging undertakers

Great news for the dead: the funeral industry is being disrupted

Changing social norms, competition and technology are shaking up a stodgy and exploitative business

FEW choose how they die, but they can choose what happens next. Most leave this to loved ones who, in their distress, usually outsource the decision to an undertaker. The transaction is often a let-down, with hardly any choices beyond “Burn or bury?” and “Cheque or card?”

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Death, disrupted”

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From the April 14th 2018 edition

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