Funeralguide

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KNOWING YOURBENEFITS
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO GET HELP TO PAY THE COSTS OF A FUNERAL
IF YOU’RE on a low income and
need help to pay for a funeral you’re
arranging, you may be able to get a
funeral payment from the Government
Social Fund, although you might have
to repay some or all of it from the
estate of the person who died.
Who is eligible?
It depends on the benefits you’re getting,
your relationship with the person who
died and any other money, other than
your personal savings, that may be
available to help with the cost of the
funeral.
Benefits and tax credits
You may be eligible for a funeral
payment from the Social Fund if you
or your partner are getting any of the
following benefits or tax credits: income
support, income-based jobseeker’s
allowance, income-related employment
and support allowance, pension credit,
housing benefit, council tax benefit (or
the council taxpayer where you live gets
a second adult rebate because you are
on a low income), working tax credit
which includes a disability or severe
disability element, or child tax credit at a
rate higher than the family element.
Relationship with the person who
has died
To be able to get a funeral payment,
you must also be either: the partner
of the deceased when they died; the
parent of the deceased child, or have
been responsible for the deceased
child, and there is no absent parent
(unless they are getting one of the above
qualifying benefits or were estranged
from the child at the date of death);
the parent of a stillborn child; a close
relative or a close friend of the deceased
(and it is reasonable for you to accept
responsibility for the funeral costs).
Bereavement payment
You may be able to receive a one-off
payment or regular payments if you have
been bereaved. A bereavement payment
is a one-off lump sum based on your late
husband or wife’s national insurance
(NI) contributions. It used to be called
widow’s payment.
Bereavement allowance is a regular
payment, paid for 52 weeks from the
date of the bereavement, and is based
on your late husband or wife’s National
Insurance contributions. It used to be
called widow’s pension.
Widowed parent’s allowance is a regular
payment which you may be eligible for
if you are a parent whose husband, wife
or civil partner has died and you have
a dependent child or young person
(aged 16 and under 20) for whom you
receive child benefit. It used to be called
widowed mother’s allowance.
Bereavement payment, bereavement
allowance and widowed parent’s
allowance are available in England,
Scotland and Wales only.
Bereavement Service
This telephone service can take details
of someone’s death. The service also
checks if the surviving husband, wife or
civil partner can claim help with funeral
costs or other benefits The Bereavement
Service is a telephone service that lets
you:
n Tell different government departments
that someone has died with just one call.
n End a benefit claim for someone who
has died.
n Find out if you are eligible for benefits
because your husband, wife or civil
partner has died.
n Make a claim for bereavement
benefits or a claim for help with funeral
costs.
The Bereavement Service helpline is
run by the Pension Service but deals
with calls about people of any age who
have died.
Telephone: 0345 606 0265 (Monday to
Friday, 8am to 8pm) Details about all the
benefits and advice available can be
found on