I've heard some pretty dire stories about the credit crunch, but none more so than this Daily Mail effort that says folks cannot even afford to bury their dead.
Apparently, "hard-up families are having to wait more than two
months before receiving Government money for funerals."
This is
because funeral directors used to do the deed and then wait for
reimbursement from the Government ... but now, what with credit drying up in the
banking system an' all, they are wanting the cash upfront and, of course, our
poor folks on benefits are finding it hard to get it together.
According to the article, "about 27,000 people claim a total of £46 million for burials every year".
Holy Tombstones!
I'm surprised that they're all able to fill out them forms when they're down the mortuary, y'know?
Again, as with so many other columns this month, I'm then more intrigued by the reader's comments, such as:
"I can't believe this is happening. People waiting for two
months to bury their loved ones, but we can inject £50 billion into
private banks in about two weeks." Mr Taylor, Scotland
"What a sad state of affairs, when people can't afford even to die." Lin, England
"Even in death we are not safe from LIBOR...." Roge, Mexico
and many more.
But y'know, I just don't get what they're all
complaining about.
After all, in times gone past, you just found a
chap with a trolley shouting 'Bring out your dead'.
The only trouble is, "I'M NOT DEAD YET!"
Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...