Have you accessed "bereavement benefits"?

Former_MSE_Will · 4 January 2016 at 12:40PM

A group of MPs is seeking views on the impact of people losing someone they were financially dependent on or for. They want to understand the reasons for funeral poverty and how well the financial support available works.

Currently, benefits that might be available to those who have lost a loved one are the Social Funeral Fund Payment, Bereavement Payment, Bereavement Allowance and Widowed Parents Allowance.

Have you accessed “bereavement benefits” or applied and been told you're not eligible?
Was it easy to find the information you needed, and was it in plain English?
Was the process of applying for the support straight-forward, or was it complicated?
Was any money paid promptly? If there was a delay, how did this impact on you?

Please share your stories below by Friday 8 January and we'll send them on to the MPs.

If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply.
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Yorkshireman99 · 4 January 2016 at 3:02PM

There seems to be a common belief that the family of a deceased person have a legal obligation to pay for the funeral. They don't! If the deceased left no funds then the hospital where they died, or the local authority are obliged to pay for what is known as a "Public Health Funeral. This will usually be a simple, no frills, cremation service. It was once known as a "pauper's funeral" but this term is regarded as innapropriate these days. Note that there is no power to recover the costs from the family though if the deceased was later found to have funds then they could, in theory, recover it from the estate though unless they spot a notice about probate they may not do so. It is not unknown for local authorities to try and pressure the family to pay even though they have no legal right to do so.

SandraScarlett · 5 January 2016 at 11:02PM

I wonder if this proposal will end up having any teeth, or will it be toothless? Last summer, there was a series of articles in The Mail, following the problems experienced by one of their own journalists, when her mother died, and readers were invited to share their problems regarding bereavement, and financial and other institutions and agencies.

There was also talk of a Committee being formed, where members of the public could explain problems they had experienced, and that this committee would also include staff from CAB.

I emailed, giving details of some of the problems I had faced, from financial and other institutions, when my husband died, in December 2014, most of which demonstrated an appalling lack of courtesy, kindness and compassion. I also added that I was a volunteer, form filling, for folk at CAB.

My email was acknowledged - and since then I have heard absolutely nothing. So if this "group of MPs" mean to help people, it would be great if, once they have received contact details, that they stay in touch.

Bridget_From_Index · 6 January 2016 at 7:56AM

My 25-year-old son, a full-time student living on an NHS bursary, had to pay for the funeral of his father, who died penniless. My son was he was told he wasn't entitled to any bereavement benefit because he was not already on any benefits. There wouldn't be many people in this position - but it does seem anomalous, and the cause of some hardship.

Yorkshireman99 · 6 January 2016 at 8:02AM

Bridget_From_Index wrote: »

My 25-year-old son, a full-time student living on an NHS bursary, had to pay for the funeral of his father, who died penniless. My son was he was told he wasn't entitled to any bereavement benefit because he was not already on any benefits. There wouldn't be many people in this position - but it does seem anomalous, and the cause of some hardship.

He was under no obligation whatsoever to pay. See my post #2 above.

tmcg80 · 6 January 2016 at 10:08AM

I'm 35 with a 13 year old and a 15 year old, my partner of 17 years passed away unexpectedly on Sept 2015. I was his carer for many years as he suffered with epilepsy, depression & anxiety!...when he passed I didn't have 2 mins to myself to think, I got letters from social, housing, council tax everything straight away everything stopped (which was right coz it was in both our names) but they didn't give me a day to get my head round things which is so wrong as I had a funeral to prepare and 2 heartbroken children to look after. Also as we have been together since I was 18 years old and have had 2 children I didn't qualify for bereavement allowance or anything which is so wrong as we have been together longer than most marriages. I didnt even qualify as his next of kin because we werent down as legally married so my 15 year old daughter had to go down so it made me feel like all them years together meant nothing. I think that if you have been together for more than 10 years then you should be eligible for bereavement allowance (as i thought you are practically classed as married anyways). Apart from a funeral grant i didnt get any help with anything, which didn't even cover the cost of the funeral director fees so Im still paying that off for the next year or two. It's just so wrong....

Tracey from S-Wales

missbiggles1 · 6 January 2016 at 10:15AM

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

He was under no obligation whatsoever to pay. See my post #2 above.

There are obligations more important than the merely legal - I'd say that this would be one of them.

missbiggles1 · 6 January 2016 at 10:18AM

tmcg80 wrote: »

I'm 35 with a 13 year old and a 15 year old, my partner of 17 years passed away unexpectedly on Sept 2015. I was his carer for many years as he suffered with epilepsy, depression & anxiety!...when he passed I didn't have 2 mins to myself to think, I got letters from social, housing, council tax everything straight away everything stopped (which was right coz it was in both our names) but they didn't give me a day to get my head round things which is so wrong as I had a funeral to prepare and 2 heartbroken children to look after. Also as we have been together since I was 18 years old and have had 2 children I didn't qualify for bereavement allowance or anything which is so wrong as we have been together longer than most marriages. I didnt even qualify as his next of kin because we werent down as legally married so my 15 year old daughter had to go down so it made me feel like all them years together meant nothing. I think that if you have been together for more than 10 years then you should be eligible for bereavement allowance (as i thought you are practically classed as married anyways). Apart from a funeral grant i didnt get any help with anything, which didn't even cover the cost of the funeral director fees so Im still paying that off for the next year or two. It's just so wrong....

Tracey from S-Wales

I do sympathise as my husband died in October.

However, if you want the legal and financial benefits that marriage brings then you should marry. If you choose not to do so then you have to accept that you won't benefit from them.

Best wishes anyway.:)

sjohnston1979 · 6 January 2016 at 10:26AM

My mother is 66 and receives no benefits other that her state pension. When my father passed away he, thankfully, had a private pension which was just about enough to cover the mortgage but not the bills.

We contacted the bereavement services listed above and were told that my mother would not be eligible for any benefits and would have to pay the cost of the funeral herself. If we had gone down that route and she'd agreed a credit arrangement with the funeral home, she would have been paying off my father's funeral for about 20 years for it to be at an affordable level.

I am fortunate enough to be in a position where I could afford to pay for the funeral, which is ultimately what happened. I also give my mother money every month to pay for her bills. But it scares me to think what position she would have been in had I not been able to afford to cover the costs - she simply wouldn't have had any help at all. The process and explanations from the bereavement services were also extremely complicated - on a number of occasions my mother wasn't able to understand it, passed the phone to me and I struggled with what they were trying to tell us as well.

All-in-all, not a good experience in the slightest and very concerning for those who maybe lose a partner on whom they rely financially without any other family to help.

Sazzie23 · 6 January 2016 at 10:39AM

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I do sympathise as my husband died in October.

However, if you want the legal and financial benefits that marriage brings then you should marry. If you choose not to do so then you have to accept that you won't benefit from them.

Best wishes anyway.:)

Except you are treated as a married couples when you want to claim benefits such as income support, JSA etc. I.e. My partner couldn't claim pension credit, income support etc because we lived together and my income was sufficient, (which is morally correct), but then when it came to me trying to claim widows bereavement allowance etc (we were together 30 years) I'm not entitled. Either you are treated as a married couple or you're not, they shouldn't be able to apply the rules both ways.

I was aware of the rules before his death, however there were reasons we didn't marry. He didn't believe it would stop me claiming since he knew that he hadn't been able to claim since we were treated as married. At least though we did have a time to be able to marry, although we chose not to, not everyone even gets that time to choose, sudden death, illness or accident can happen to anyone anytime.

UKParliament · 6 January 2016 at 10:51AM

The House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee held an evidence session examining how the rising cost of funerals is affecting individuals and funeral companies, as well as the support from the Social Funeral Fund from 9:30am.

The Committee heard evidence from funeral directors and funeral experts from different faiths, including:

Lucy Coulbert, Managing Director, The Individual Funeral Company, Coulbert Family Funerals
Nigel Lymn-Rose, National Association of Funeral Directors
Mohamed Omer, Muslim Council of Great Britain
Melvyn Hartog, United Synagogue

Watch the session on Parliament TV.

Have you accessed "bereavement benefits"?

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