Help towards Funeral Expenses

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Funeral Expenses Payment

You could get a Funeral Expenses Payment (also called a Funeral Payment) if you get certain benefits and need help to pay for a funeral you’re arranging.

What you’ll get

Funeral Expenses Payment can help pay for some of the costs of the following:

  • Burial fees for a particular plot
  • Cremation fees, including the cost of the doctor’s certificate
  • Travel to arrange or go to the funeral
  • The cost of moving the body within the UK, if it’s being moved more than 50 miles
  • Death certificates or other documents
  • You can also get up to £1,000 for any other funeral expenses, such as funeral director’s fees, flowers or the coffin.

The payment will not usually cover all of the costs of the funeral.

How much you get depends on your circumstances. This includes any other money that’s available to cover the costs, for example from an insurance policy or the deceased person’s estate.

Eligibility

You (or your partner) must get one or more of the following:

  • Income Support
  • Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  • Pension Credit
  • Housing Benefit
  • The disability or severe disability element of Working Tax Credit
  • Child Tax Credit
  • Universal Credit

How to claim

Claim by phone by calling the Bereavement Service helpline.

Bereavement Service helpline 0800 731 0469.

You can also claim by post. Download and fill in the claim form (SF200), then send it to the address on the form.

Bereavement Support Payment

What you’ll get

The amount of Bereavement Support Payment you can get will depend on your relationship to the person who died and when you make your claim.

Your payments will be paid into your bank, building society or credit union account.

If you were married or in a registered civil partnership with the person who died

You’ll get the higher rate if one of the following applied when your partner died:

  • You were getting Child Benefit
  • You were eligible for Child Benefit
  • You were pregnant

This is made up of:

  • A first payment of £3,500
  • Up to 18 monthly payments of £350

If you were not eligible for Child Benefit, you’ll get the lower rate unless you were pregnant when your partner died.

This is made up of:

  • A first payment of £2,500
  • Up to 18 monthly payments of £100

You must claim within 12 months of your partner’s death to get the first payment. If you claim after this time, you will only get monthly payments.

If you were living together as though you were married with the person who died

If your partner died before 30 August 2018

You will not get a first payment and may get up to 18 monthly payments of £350. You must make your claim before

9 February 2024 to get any monthly payments.

If your partner died on or after 30 August 2018, but before 9 February 2023

You may get a first payment of £3,500 and up to 18 monthly payments of £350. You must make your claim before 9 February 2024 to get the full amount.

If your partner died on or after 9 February 2023

You may get a first payment of £3,500 and up to 18 monthly payments of £350. To get the first payment of £3,500, you must claim within 12 months of your partner’s death. To get all of the monthly payments, you must claim within 3 months of your partner’s death.

Eligibility

When your partner died, you must have been:

  • Under State Pension age
  • Living in the UK or a country that pays bereavement benefits

Your partner must have either:

  • Paid National Insurance contributions for at least 25 weeks in one tax year since 6 April 1975
  • Died because of an accident at work or a disease caused by work

You cannot claim Bereavement Support Payment if you’re in prison.

Your relationship to your partner

When your partner died you must have been either:

  • Married or in a registered civil partnership
  • Living together as though you were married

If you were married or in a registered civil partnership with the person who died

You can claim Bereavement Support Payment if your partner died in the last 21 months but you might get less than the usual 18 monthly payments.

You must claim within 3 months of your partner’s death to get the full amount.

You may still be able to claim Bereavement Support Payment if your partner’s cause of death was confirmed more than 21 months after the death. call the Bereavement Service helpline.

If your partner died before 6 April 2017, you may be able to get Widowed Parents Allowance instead.

If you were living together as though you were married with the person who died

You may be able to get Bereavement Support Payment if your partner died on or after 6 April 2017.

You must have been:

  • Under State Pension age when your partner died
  • Under State Pension age on 30 August 2018

If you reach State Pension age within 18 months of your partner’s death, you can make a claim but you might get fewer monthly payments.

When your partner died, you must have been one of the following:

  • Getting Child Benefit
  • Eligible for Child Benefit
  • Pregnant

If you do not get Child Benefit, you must make a new claim for it in your name before you can apply for Bereavement Support Payment.

If your partner was getting Child Benefit, you will not automatically get Bereavement Support Payment. You’ll need to make a new claim for it in your name before you apply for Bereavement Support Payment.

HOW TO CLAIM

Apply by phone: Bereavement Service helpline 0800 151 2012

Apply Online: https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment

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Call us on 01246 823 355 or email us using our online contact form.

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