Get help with funeral costs

Depending on your income, you may be able to apply for help to pay for a funeral you’re arranging. You may be eligible to get a Funeral Payment from the Social Fund. 

WHAT YOU’LL GET

A 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 certificates
• Travel to arrange or go to the funeral
• The cost of conveying the deceased within the UK, if being moved more than 50 miles
• Death certificates or other documents
• You may also be able to get help towards other funeral expenses, such as funeral director’s fees, coffin or the flowers. You can get up to:
• £700 if the person died before 8 April 2020
• £1,000 if the person died on or after 8 April 2020

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

How much you are awarded depends on your personal circumstances. Any other money that’s available to cover the costs, for example from an insurance policy or the deceased person’s estate will be taken into account.

A Funeral Expenses Payment is paid into your bank, building society or credit union account if you’ve already paid for the funeral.

The money will be paid directly to the organiser of the funeral (for example, the funeral director) if you have not paid yet.

You can get a Funeral Expenses Payment if all of the following apply:

• Arranging a funeral in the UK, the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland
• Meet the rules on your relationship with the deceased
• Get certain benefits or tax credits

You may be eligible for a Funeral Payment from the Social Fund if you or your partner (The term partner is used here to mean, a person you are married to, or person you live with as if you are married to them, a civil partner, or person you live with as if you are civil partners) 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
• The disability or severe disability element of Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Universal Credit

To be eligible for a Funeral Payment you must also be either:

• The partner of the deceased when they died
• A close relative or close friend of the deceased
• The parent of a baby still born after 24 weeks of pregnancy
• The parent or person responsible for a deceased child who was under 16(or under 20 and in approved education or training)

How much money (other than your personal savings) is available to help you with the cost of the funeral, will influence how much you will be awarded. This could include money available from the estate of the person who died, contributions received and money from, for example, insurance policies, but does not include the social security Bereavement Payment or money from certain government-funded trusts. To be eligible, the person who died must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and the funeral must usually be in the UK.

How much do you get?

A Funeral Payment includes necessary burial or cremation fees, certain other specified expenses and up to £700 for any other funeral expenses, like the:

• Funeral director’s fees
• Coffin or flowers

If the person who died had a pre-paid funeral plan, you’ll only get help for items not already covered by the plan.

Claim by phone by calling the Bereavement Service helpline.

Bereavement Service Helpline

Telephone: 0800 731 0469

Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm

An adviser will also help you claim any other bereavement benefits you might be entitled to.

You can also claim by post by downloading and filling in the claim form, then send it to the address on the form. Download from the www.gov.uk website.

There is no effect on other benefits from having a Funeral Payment.

In certain circumstances you may be able to claim certain benefits or one-off payments if you lived with or were dependent on the deceased. Generally time limits apply to make a claim, so it is advisable to contact your nearest Jobcentre Plus as soon as possible to find out if you are eligible. This is only a brief guide and other benefits may be available to you, for more information telephone your local Jobcentre Plus or download the Bereavement Benefits claim pack from the Department of Work and Pensions website.

If you are a parent whose husband, wife or civil partner has died and you have at least one child who you receive Child Benefit for, you may be able to get Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA).

• Your husband, wife or civil partner died before 6 April 2017
• You are under State Pension age
• You are entitled to Child Benefit for at least one child and your late husband, wife or civil partner was their parent
• Your late husband, wife or civil partner paid National Insurance contributions, or they died as a result of an industrial accident or disease

You may also claim WPA if you are pregnant and your husband has died, or you are pregnant after fertility treatment and your civil partner has died.

You cannot claim if the following applies to you:

• Were divorced from your husband, wife or civil partner when they died
• Remarry or are living with another person as if you are married to them or as if you have formed a civil partnership
• Were over State Pension age when you were widowed or became a surviving civil partner – you may be able to get extra State Pension
• Are in prison

The amount you get is based on how much your late husband, wife or civil partner paid in National Insurance contributions. In some cases, you may be entitled to an additional pension.

The Bereavement Allowance is a taxable weekly benefit, which is paid for up to 52 weeks after the death of your husband, wife or civil partner, if you are eligible.

In order to apply you must meet the following criteria:

• Your husband, wife or civil partner died before 6 April 2017.
• You were 45 or over when your husband, wife or civil partner died.
• You are under State Pension age.
• Your late husband, wife or civil partner paid National Insurance contributions, or they died as a result of an industrial accident or disease.

You cannot claim if the following applies to you:

• Are bringing up children – you can claim Widowed Parent’s Allowance instead
• Remarry or form a new civil partnership
• Live with another person as if you’re married or in a civil partnership
• Were divorced from your husband, wife or civil partner before their death
• Were over State Pension age when you were widowed or became a surviving civil partner – you may be able to get extra State Pension
• Are in prison

The amount that you get is based on the overall level of your husband, wife or civil partner’s National Insurance contributions and your age at the time of their death.

The £2,000 payment is a one-off tax-free lump sum.

N.B. All benefits will be paid directly in a bank account.