funeral costs

yully

Hi,

My grandad died yesterday and i'm just trying to sort out the funeral. He had insurance but my husband is unemployed and there's no other family - i'm just wondering if there's any benefits we can apply for,

thanks x

Gareth19

Hi, sorry to hear about your loss. I believe there is a funeral grant available but not too sure on the details. It is from the Social Fund. Just type in funeral grant and it will come up on google. Hope this helps.

lovetowinacar

yully wrote: »

Hi,

My grandad died yesterday and i'm just trying to sort out the funeral. He had insurance but my husband is unemployed and there's no other family - i'm just wondering if there's any benefits we can apply for,

thanks x

Sorry to hear of your loss. If he had insurance then the insurance will need to go towards funeral costs first - if there is a shortfall the funeral grant may help but they do expect any money from the deceased (bank accounts, sale of personal property, insurance, savings if any etc etc) to be used first

dmg24

lovetowinacar wrote: »

Sorry to hear of your loss. If he had insurance then the insurance will need to go towards funeral costs first - if there is a shortfall the funeral grant may help but they do expect any money from the deceased (bank accounts, sale of personal property, insurance, savings if any etc etc) to be used first

The Funeral Grant is only intended to cover the basics, so if there is a shortfall after the insurance payment the DWP are likely to question whether the funeral arrangements are beyond that which will be covered, so they may not cover the extra.

Are Grandad's own children not still here?

Oldernotwiser

What were you planning to do with the insurance - presuming you are the next of kin?

p00hsticks

Details on eligibility for funeral grants are here

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Bereaved/DG_10018660

sparrowsfart

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

What were you planning to do with the insurance - presuming you are the next of kin?

My experience, is that undertakers require a deposit, and the insurance doesn't normally come through in time.

So regardless of insurance, the OP may still need financial assistance to meet the initial costs anyway.

livingstone1930

yully wrote: »

Hi,

My grandad died yesterday and i'm just trying to sort out the funeral. He had insurance but my husband is unemployed and there's no other family - i'm just wondering if there's any benefits we can apply for,

thanks x

hi
i just had my husbands funeral and really wished i had went with a company that does not demand the payment before the funeral, so please be very careful who you get to do the actual funeral. i would suggest a compant like the cooperative who will wait for your payment from the dwp. i would go to directgov.uk and put in social fund or funeral payment and download a claim form.
i hope this helps.
susan

Richard1075

When my partner died in 2008 the funeral director I used didn't ask for a deposit. He also allowed to pay for the funeral in instalments too.

I applied for the funeral grant but was disallowed as my application was 3 days late. You only have a month to make a claim and I was in hospital/nursing home and was unable to make the claim in time.

I appealed the decision and although I went to tribunal and the Judge agreed that there were reasons that I could not claim he said he was unable to make a decision in my favour as the DWP would just appeal his decision as it would set a precident and they would win on point of law.

Therefore I had to pay the whole of the £2300 bill myself. In the tribunal paeprwork there was a calculation which showed that I would have received £1300!

Lee_m

My condolences Yully.

When my Aunt died earlier in the year, my Uncle didn't have the funds available immediately to cover the funeral costs. After the costs had been agreed. The Funeral Director (Co-op I think) submitted their invoices to the insurance company who paid them directly from the policy. Any monies leftover from the policy was then sent by cheque from the insurance firm to my Uncle.

He was really worried about the insurance company not paying out in time and was unable to apply for a Funeral Payment from the Social Fund due to the existence of the policy.

AsknAnswer2

You can apply anytime from now up until 3 months from the date of the funeral.

I'll post a link to the regulations below

The allowable costs appear in regulation 9 and from the allowable costs they will deduct available resources such as an insurance policy (regulation 10). Having an insurance policy does not always over ride entitlement unless the sum of the insurance policy (and any other resources which fall to be deducted under regulation 10) are higher than the sum they can award under regulation 9. If the resources are less than the sum in regulation 9, (and providing all other conditions of claim are satisfied) you will still recieve the funeral payment albiet a reduced amount.

SI/2005/3061


As you will see, there are 6 conditions of entitlement, followed by the supplementary conditions. They must all be satisfied in order to be eligible for an award.

If you have any questions, please ask.