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You may be able to get help with the cost of a funeral if you, or your partner, have ...
- arranged the funeral in the United Kingdom (UK), and the person who has died had their main home in the United Kingdom when they died.
- arranged the funeral elsewhere in the European Economic Area (but check with your social security office as this will depend on your circumstances).
The DSS use the term 'partner' to mean a person you are married to or a person you are living with as if you are married to them. By United Kingdom, the DSS mean England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
European Economic Area countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
You can only get help with the cost of a funeral if ...
- you or your partner are getting one of the following qualifying benefits:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
- Housing benefit
- Council Tax Benefit
- Working Families' Tax Credit
- Disabled Person's Tax Credit, or
- the council tax payer where you live gets a Second Adult Rebate because you are on Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or have a low income, and
- you have made arrangements but do not have enough money to pay for the full cost of the funeral, and
- it is reasonable for you to pay for the cost of the funeral because
- you were the partner of the person who has died. For the purposes of claiming a Funeral Payment, the DSS still treat someone as your partner if you were married to them, or living with them as if you were married to them, immediately before you or they went to live permanently in residential care. Or if you are married and living in the same residential care home, or
- the person who has died did not have a partner and you were a close relative or a close friend of theirs and it is reasonable for you to take responsibility for the funeral.
 The DSS decide if it is reasonable for you to take responsibility for the funeral in the following way.
Firstly
- the DSS will look to see if the person who has died had a parent, son or daughter who was not estranged from them when they died, and whether that person has been awarded any of the benefits listed, or
- if you were the parent of a still born child it will be considered reasonable for you to take responsibility for the funeral expenses,
- if you were entitled to Child Benefit for a child who has died, the DSS will look to see if the child has another parent who is not your partner, and whether that parent was estranged from the child, and whether they or their partner are getting any of the benefits listed.
By estranged the DSS mean that there was a breakdown in the relationship between the person who has died and their parent, son or daughter. The DSS will decide if this applies when the DSS look at the information you give them on the claim form.
Otherwise
The DSS will look at the kind of relationship you had with the person who died and how much contact you had with them when compared to other close relatives.
By close relative the DSS mean:
- parent, father-in-law, mother-in-law or step-parent
- son, son-in-law, step-son or step-son-in-law
- daughter, daughter-in-law, step-daughter or step-daughter-in-law
- brother or brother-in-law
- sister or sister-in-law.
When the DSS look to see if it is reasonable for you to take responsibility for the cost of the funeral, in some cases they will not take into account any other parent, son or daughter who is:
- in full time education
- a fully maintained member of a religious order
- in prison or somewhere else like this
- an in-patient in an NHS hospital or somewhere else like this
- an asylum seeker being supported by a National Asylum Support Service (NASS).
The information in these notes is only a general guide to claiming a Funeral Payment from the Social Fund.
You can find out more about Funeral Payments from the Social Fund in leaflet SB16, "A guide to the Social Fund".
If you want to talk to someone about Funeral Payments get in touch with your social security office. They can arrange for someone to see you at home if this is necessary, or at the social security office. You can find the phone number and address on the advert in the business numbers section of the phone book. Look under 'Benefits Agency'.
If you have difficulty filling in the claim form, someone else can fill it in for you. But remember, you must sign the form yourself. Your social security office can help you fill in the form or you can ask a relative, or friend, or someone at an advice centre.
IMPORTANT
The DSS will not, under normal circumstances, commit themselves to contributing towards the cost of the funeral until the funeral director issues the funeral account — after the funeral has taken place. If the DSS turn down your application, you as the person responsible for making the funeral arrangements will become liable for the outstanding debt to the funeral director.
When you arrange the funeral, please tell the funeral director that you will be claiming a Funeral Payment from the Social Fund.
The simple dignified funeral package offered through this Low Price Funerals website is specifically designed to provide a complete funeral for the full amount the DSS is prepared to contribute, subject to any amendment the client may make.
The Funeral Payment can include ...
- The cost of reopening a grave or opening a new grave and burial costs, or
- In the case of a cremation
- the cost of cremation
- the cost of any necessary doctor's certificates
- the cost of removing a pacemaker or other medical device which must be removed before the cremation.
- The cost of any documents needed for the release of the assets of the person who has died. The DSS uses the word 'assets' to mean all the money, savings and property of the person who has died.
- When it is necessary to move the body over 50 miles, within the United Kingdom to the funeral director's premises or place of rest, the cost of that part of the journey which is over 50 miles.
- When the journey to the funeral is necessarily over 50 miles, the cost of that part of the journey which is over 50 miles for the transport of the coffin and bearers.
- The cost of a return journey for you to either
- arrange the funeral, or
- go to the funeral.
- Up to £700 for any other funeral expenses. This amount includes all other costs in connection with the funeral.
- If you have a bill for an item which has not been provided by the funeral director. This might be for flowers. The DSS may be able to help with these if the amount paid to the funeral director for other funeral expenses is less than £700.
A prepaid funeral plan is any arrangement made before death to cover some or all of the costs of a funeral.
The DSS need to know if the person who has died had
- a prepaid funeral plan
- a funeral bond
- any other prepaid arrangement like these.
The DSS cannot help with any of the items and services listed above which are already fully covered by a prepaid plan. But you may be able to get payment for
- the necessary cost of any items listed above that are not covered by the plan
- the necessary part-cost of any items listed above that are only partly covered by the plan
- up to £100 for any other funeral expenses.
So that the DSS can make a decision about your claim, they need to know what the plan provided. Please send them
- a copy of the original plan
- any documents you have received from the plan provider showing the items and services that the plan provides for this funeral.
If a prepaid funeral plan was not paid in full before the person died, the DSS will need to know how much has been repaid or will be repaid by the plan provider. Please send to the DSS
- a copy of the original plan
- any documents you have received from the plan provider showing the amount to be repaid.
When the DSS work out how much help you can get, they will also look at how much money is available to help you with the cost of the funeral. This could include money from the estate of the person who has died. This could be ...
- money in a bank, building society or post office account. You may be able to ask the bank or building society to pay the funeral bill if there is enough money in the account.
- money from insurance policies
- money from an occupational pension scheme
- money from a burial club or something like this
- any savings or cash of the person who has died
- contributions towards the cost of the funeral from relatives or charities
The DSS will not take into account any lump sum Bereavement Payment of £2,000 from social security or compensation payments from the following government funded trusts ...
- the MacFarlane (Special Payments) Trust
- the MacFarlane (Special Payments) (No 2) Trust
- the Fund
- the Eileen Trust.
If the DSS can pay you a Funeral Payment from the Social Fund, they will usually send you a girocheque. The girocheque will be made payable to the funeral director unless the funeral director's bill has already been paid.
Please give the girocheque to the funeral director as soon as you receive it.
A Funeral Payment made from the Social Fund will have to be paid back from the estate of the person who has died. The law says that funeral expenses must be paid before anything else is paid from the estate.
By 'estate', the DSS mean ...
- any other assets such as property, land, stocks and shares, savings and any other money or cash belonging to, or owed to the person who has died.
- any money that comes into the estate after the person dies.
The DSS will write to you or to the person who is looking after the financial affairs of the person who has died. They will ask if the person who has died left any estate from which the Funeral Payment can be repaid. This is because money is not always immediately available to pay for the funeral, but may become available later. For example, money may be released later or you may find an insurance policy you did not know about.
The DSS do not count the home occupied by the partner of the person who has died as an asset, and do not count personal possessions left to relatives.
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