Paying for a funeral

mboro

Its a harsh fact of life but my Nan is very ill in hospital and we have been told to prepare our selves for the worst.

I am worried about the funeral.

I am a uni student and have no savings.
My Nan has no savings but has a pension.
And my dad who is retired has no savings or pension yet.

How do we "dad and I" cover the huge cost of a funeral ?

Any help or advice please.

Krystaltips

Sorry to hear about your Nan. Is she claiming any benefits? There is a small grant you can get to go towards funerals if the next of kin cannot afford it. I also believe quite a few funeral parlours will offer an installment option...

mboro

Good question..I am not sure if she was claiming housing benefits? I will look into it.

jembie

You could try applying for a funeral payment.

Here

I did this when my dad died as I was a lone parent. They can pay it straight to the funeral people for you too so you don't have to worry about that. It is worth a try.

Sorry to hear about your Nan by the way. Best wishes to you and your family

hardpressed

When the time comes don't be afraid or embarrassed to tell the undertaker that you want their basic funeral, if that is what you want. I had to arrange a relatives funeral and knew that he hated all the fancy trappings and just wanted everything plain and simple. They were happy to do what was asked. You could contact the Citizens Advice they'll be able to tell you what help is available. The hospital should have a berievement advisor who will be able to help you, ask the ward sister, they should put you in touch.

dipsy

just something to note,

if you claim for the funeral payment due to being on benefits or other eligible criteria, it is valid for the date you put the claim in, not the date of the funeral/date of payment for the funeral.

Recently learnt this as my partners mother died recently and despite his sister and himself being eligible at the time of the death/funeral, they took the date/circumstances from the application not the date/circumstances a the time of the funeral, as they both came off benefits within weeks of the funeral they now find they are not eligible to claim the money as the forms were not submitted for some 4 weeks after the funeral - which you would think they would understand as people have enough to deal with at the time, so if you are eligible and you want to claim I would suggest you get the forms now and have them ready - as much as you can so there is no delay in applying.

Sorry to sound so matter of fact, just trying to be practical

xx

Zara33

Krystaltips wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your Nan. Is she claiming any benefits? There is a small grant you can get to go towards funerals if the next of kin cannot afford it. I also believe quite a few funeral parlours will offer an installment option...

I think it's not so much what the deceased was getting in benefit's but what benefit's the next of kin are getting.

If you are having trouble paying for a funeral that you have to arrange, you may be able to get a Social Fund Funeral Payment to help you with the cost.


Who can get help

To qualify, you or your partner (spouse or someone you live with as if you are married to them) must be receiving one of these benefits or tax credits:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit at a rate higher than the family element and/or Working Tax Credit where there is a disability or severe disability element included in the award
• Housing Benefit
• Council Tax Benefit

and it must be reasonable for you to have taken responsibility for the funeral expenses.
This will usually mean you were the partner of the deceased. Or, if they had no partner, you were a close relative or close friend of the deceased. We would ask you about the circumstances of any parent, son or daughter of the deceased. We may also have to ask about the circumstances of the deceased’s close relatives.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/d49s/pay_funeral.asp

Fourcandles_3

When my mum died we were given the claim forms when we registered the death. You can only claim once so check what you can claim for. We didn't as she went into my dad's grave, but apparently you can claim for headstones and even the main flowers.

l21ynz

I just wanted to add, even if you do have the money to pay for the funeral, dont pay for it and then claim the funeral grant as they will not grant it.

This happened last year to my grandad when my gran died, my aunt went and took a loan out and paid the funeral and then put the claim form in, it was refused as we had the money to pay for the funeral at the time, we didnt know.

McKneff

are you sure your gran has not provided for her funeral expenses herself
Very often elderly people do this ie with insurance policies which they often keep to them selves.

mboro

Thank you all so much for your advice, I am certain Nan does not have any money put away for a funeral.......I think she only has £1000 in her bank account.