Paying for the funeral
Help from the Social Fund
If you are having trouble paying for a funeral that you have to arrange, you may be able to get a Social Fund Funeral Payment to help you with the cost.
Who can get help
To qualify, you or your partner (spouse or someone you live with as if you are married to them) must be receiving one of these benefits or tax credits:
- Income Support
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit at a rate higher than the family element and/or Working Tax Credit where there is a disability or severe disability element included in the award
- Housing Benefit
- Council Tax Benefit
and it must be reasonable for you to have taken responsibility for the funeral expenses.
This will usually mean you were the partner of the deceased. Or, if they had no partner, you were a close relative or close friend of the deceased. We would ask you about the circumstances of any parent, son or daughter of the deceased. We may also have to ask about the circumstances of the deceased’s close relatives.
The deceased must have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom at the date of death, and the funeral must normally take place in the UK. However, in certain circumstances, a Funeral Payment may be made for a funeral which takes place elsewhere in the European Union (EU). The amount awarded will be restricted to the amount which could have been paid if the funeral had taken place in the area where the deceased had lived in the UK.
What you can get help with
A Funeral Payment will cover the costs of a simple, respectful, low cost funeral, normally within the UK. We will pay the charges of the burial authority or crematorium, certain necessary travel expenses and up to £700 for other funeral expenses. (You may not be entitled to a payment if expenses have been met by a pre-paid funeral plan.)
A Funeral Payment may be reduced in certain circumstances. In particular, the following will be deducted from an award:
- any assets of the deceased available to you or your partner
- any lump sum due on the death of the deceased for funeral costs
- any contribution for the funeral from a charity or relative (of both yourself and the deceased)
- any funeral grant where the deceased was a war pensioner.
Getting a payment
If you get a Funeral Payment, it will have to be paid back from any estate of the deceased. The estate means any money, property and other things like insurance policies that the deceased owned. A house or personal possessions that are left to a widow or widower are not counted as part of the estate.
When and how to claim
You can claim a Funeral Payment from the date of death and up to 3 months after the date of the funeral. Funeral Payments are usually made by girocheque in the funeral director’s name. We send you the girocheque to give to them.
More information
See leaflet SB16 “A guide to the Social Fund”. If you cannot get other help you may be able to get help from your local council or health authority.
When a war pensioner dies
If the person who died was a war pensioner you may be able to get help with the cost of a simple funeral if:
- the war pensioner died from the disablement condition for which he or she was getting a war pension
- or the war pensioner died in hospital while having treatment for that disablement condition
- or the war pensioner was getting war pensioner’s Constant Attendance Allowance at the time of his or her death
- or the war pensioner was getting a War Disablement Pension assessed at 80 per cent or more and Unemployability Supplement at the time of his or her death.
You will not have to pay any of the money back from the estate of the person who died.
How to claim
Claims must be made within 3 months of the funeral. To claim write without delay after the funeral to:
Service Personnel and Veterans Agency
Tomlinson House
Norcross
Thornton-Cleveleys
Lancashire
FY5 3WP
More information
See WPA Leaflet 1 “Notes about War Disablement and War Widow’s Pensions” or phone the Veterans Free Helpline on 0800 169 2277. People with speech/hearing problems using text phones should dial: 0800 169 3458.