Help with funeral costs: up to £1,000 on top of the cremation, and £300 for a child’s coffin

Funeral Expenses Payment is a DWP payment for people on certain benefits who are arranging a funeral. It rarely covers the whole cost, but it takes on the heaviest items: the burial plot, the cremation, moving the body and part of the funeral director’s bill. Scotland has replaced it with Funeral Support Payment, and Northern Ireland has its own claim route.

What does Funeral Expenses Payment actually cover?

Several costs are met as incurred: burial fees for a particular plot; cremation fees, including the cost of the doctor’s certificate; travel to arrange or go to the funeral; moving the body within the UK where the distance is more than 50 miles; and death certificates or other documents.

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On top of that you can get up to £1,000 for any other funeral expenses — the funeral director’s fees, flowers or the coffin. If the person who died had a pre-paid funeral plan, that cap drops to £120, and only for items the plan does not cover. The claim form notes set out the full list.

How much you get depends on your circumstances, including other money available to cover the costs, such as an insurance policy or the deceased person’s estate. Anything you receive from the estate is deducted from the payment. The estate here excludes a house and personal things left to a widow, widower or surviving civil partner.

Who is eligible?

Three conditions must all apply: you get one of the qualifying benefits, you meet the rules on your relationship with the person who died, and the funeral is in the UK, the European Economic Area or Switzerland.

The qualifying benefits, for you or your partner, are Universal Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit and Housing Benefit. A Support for Mortgage Interest loan may also qualify you. You can claim while still waiting to hear about one of these benefits.

On relationship, the payment goes to the partner of the deceased; the parent of a baby stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy; or the parent or person responsible for a child who died under 16, or under 20 and in approved education or training. A close relative or friend may claim if the deceased had no partner when they died, or if the partner or parent cannot claim — for example because they live abroad or are in prison. But if a close relative such as a sibling or parent is in work and not on a qualifying benefit, the claim may be refused.

What is the deadline for claiming?

Six months from the date of the funeral, even if you are still waiting for a decision on a qualifying benefit. You can claim before the funeral if you have an invoice or a signed contract from the funeral director — an estimate is not enough. If you get Universal Credit, no decision comes through until after your next UC payment.

Claims are made by phone to the Bereavement Service helpline on 0800 151 2012 (0800 731 0453 in Welsh), Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm. The adviser will also help you claim any other bereavement benefits you might be entitled to. The alternative is post: download and complete form SF200 and send it to the address on the form.

How is the money paid?

If you have already paid for the funeral, it goes into your bank, building society or credit union account. If you have not paid yet, it goes directly to the organiser of the funeral — usually the funeral director.

A decision can be challenged by appealing to the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal.

What if the person who died was a child?

England has a separate scheme, the Children’s Funeral Fund for England. It covers the funeral of a child under 18 or a baby stillborn after the 24th week of pregnancy, and unlike Funeral Expenses Payment it is not means-tested: earnings and savings make no difference. The one condition is that the burial or cremation takes place in England.

The fund pays burial fees, cremation fees including the doctor’s certificate, and a coffin, shroud or casket up to £300. Other expenses can be put to Funeral Expenses Payment if you or your partner get a qualifying benefit.

Families should not be charged for the burial or cremation at all: the provider claims the fees itself and is paid directly. If you use a funeral director you submit nothing yourself — they claim the other expenses, such as the coffin, too. Without a funeral director you claim those other expenses online. The deadline is the same six months from the funeral.

What else needs doing after a death?

Register the death in England or Wales within the statutory period, then use the Tell Us Once service, which notifies all the relevant government departments in one go. Organisations outside government — employers, private pension providers, banks and utility companies — have to be told separately.

It is also worth checking other bereavement support: Bereavement Support Payment if your partner has died, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Leave if your child has died or you have had a stillbirth, and Guardian’s Allowance if you are bringing up a child whose parents have died.