Funeral Payments

A funeral payment is a payment to help people on a low income with the essential costs of a funeral. You must show that you have met these expenses. You do not have to repay a funeral payment, although it can be recovered from the estate of the person who has died.

You can claim a funeral payment if you or your partner is receiving Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or Pension Credit. If you are getting Child Tax Credit and your award is high enough you can claim a funeral payment. If you are getting Working Tax Credit with an extra amount for disability, you can also claim a funeral payment. Your capital (for example, savings) does not affect a funeral payment.

You will not be granted a funeral payment just because you are paying for a funeral. The benefit office has to accept that it is reasonable for you to be responsible for the funeral costs and that there is no one else who should be paying for it. If you were the partner of the person who has died, or you are claiming funeral costs for your child who has died, you can be paid a funeral payment regardless, as long as you meet the benefit conditions. If you are a close relative, family member or a friend of the person who has died, you may be able to get a funeral payment, but it will depend whether there are other relatives alive who are not on benefit. If there is someone closer or equally close to the person who has died who is not on benefit, you cannot usually get a funeral payment. In this situation the benefit office will also consider whether it is reasonable for you to accept responsibility for the funeral expenses. They will look at how well you knew the dead person.

A funeral payment will not cover all the costs of a funeral. A payment cannot be made for expenses which are already met under a pre-paid funeral plan. Otherwise, a funeral payment can include the costs of a new burial plot or the costs of cremation. If it is cheaper to use an existing burial plot, the costs of part of the journey to transport the body can be met. A funeral payment can also meet the cost of getting documents to release the assets of the dead person. A funeral payment can cover the cost of one return journey for you to attend or arrange the funeral. A funeral payment can also include up to £700 for other expenses, for example, a headstone, flowers or extra religious requirements. If there is a private funeral payment plan, there is a limit of £100 for any of these other expenses that are not already covered by the funeral plan. A funeral payment will be reduced by any available assets of the person who has died. This means any resources they had which can be used to pay towards the funeral, for example, lump sum insurance or pension scheme payments, contributions towards funeral expenses from charities and relatives, and the amount of any sum paid out under a pre-paid funeral plan. Even if a full payment is made to you, the benefit office may recover all or part of it from the dead person’s estate later on.

This site is restricted to customers resident in the UK.

We are introducers to Dignity Funeral Plans who are regulated by the Funeral Planning Authorities Independant Board. Funeral Plans are an unregulated product.