Funeral Payment from the Social Fund

poppasmurf_bewdley

My dear late Dad was like your friend - would never admit when he was wrong, even if we proved him wrong. Show him a copy of Encyclodedia Brittannica and he would say "That's wrong, not me!".

From what you have posted on here, your Mum will not be entitled to a Funeral Grant, especially if you have already paid the funeral director's bill.

Pollycat

Thanks for all the comments.

Re the issue of me paying for the funeral on Mum's behalf, I did find something interesting in the links provided by AsknAnswer2:

Agents
[FONT=IBGLJ L+ Helvetica,Helvetica][FONT=IBGLJ L+ Helvetica,Helvetica]39137 It is not necessary that the funeral arrangements are made by the responsible person. Another person can act as agent for the responsible person. The responsible person does not have to be named on the funeral account and the funeral director does not have to know that the person who is instructing them is an agent. However there should be evidence that the responsible person gave the other person the authority to make the arrangements on their behalf[/FONT][/FONT]1. 1 R(IS) 6/98
39138 The account is evidence that a contract exists for
1. the funeral director to provide goods and services and
2. the responsible person to pay for those goods and services.
39139 An agent may pay the funeral account in full or part. The agent has not accepted responsibility for the funeral costs, but makes a payment on behalf of the responsible person.
Example 1
A son acts as agent for his recently widowed mother and arranges his father’s funeral. The funeral director wants an advance payment for the interment fee. The son makes the payment. The funeral account is in the son’s name but his mother makes an SFFP claim. The mother is responsible for all the funeral expenses. The interment fee is included in the allowable expenses.

So I think I'm exactly like the son in the example.
Or am I?

Example 4
A single girl has a stillborn child. Her parents take responsibility for the funeral and pay the funeral account. Later the parents realise help is available from the SF and the girl claims an SFFP. Her parents send a supporting letter explaining that the payment was a loan. Novation cannot take place because the contract is complete. The claimant is not the responsible person and she is not entitled to an SFFP.

I'm just confused.....am I Example 1 or Example 4?

Escortg3 - no, it's not being confused with the bereavement payment. Dad was 82 and Mum is 79 so over state pension age.

AsknAnswer2
Mum was in receipt of Guarnatee Pension Credit on the day that Dad died and the day of the funeral.

However, she is not in receipt of GPC now i.e. on the date of the claim being made - so I guess that is the deal-breaker......

AsknAnswer2

Sorry for the delayed response - yes, I'm afraid so.

She needs to be in receipt of a qualifying benefit at the date of the claim. Reg 7 (3) and 7 (4).

You are example 1.

Pollycat

Thanks AsknAnswer.

If I'm Example 1, my paying the bill doean't make it a deal-breaker then (it sounds like this claim was allowed but Example 4 wasn't).

I rang DWP yesterday to specifically ask if Mum was eligible and explained that Mum was in receipt of GPC at the time of Dad's death and at the time of his funeral but was in receipt of Savings PC now - so still getting Pension Credit.

Reading back, I didn't actually initially say that Mum was still getting Pension Credit (of any sort) so apologies for that omission.

I also explained that I'd paid the bill on Mum's behalf as her savings (joint with Dad's) were not accessible at the moment.

She completed the form over the telephone for Mum and said we'll hear in a couple of weeks.

Thanks again.

AsknAnswer2

PC (guaranteed or savings) is a qualifying benefit.

If I'm Example 1, my paying the bill doean't make it a deal-breaker then

That's right - from what you said so far it appears to me that you were acting as her agent (though the term 'agent' was probably not used), presumably the money you paid was not your own and if it is, your mum will be repaying that to you? If you did pay it of your own accord from your own funds and there was no agreement that your mother would repay you, then it is a relatives contribution and is deductible.

Pollycat

Thanks for that, for some reason I thought it was only guarantee PC that was a qualifying benefit.

Yes, it was very clear that Mum would pay me back when she had the funds.
It's not the only bill I've paid on that same basis, I've also paid for the care home fees which will be paid back to me when savings are released.

Pollycat

Just to let people know the outcome so far:
we completed the claim on the telephone on 4/10 and Mum has received a cheque this week.

I was totally honest about me paying the funeral bill and why and the amount of their savings.

DWP were aware that the funeral bill had already been paid, the letter says they may ask for the payment back so we'll wait and see.
Even if they do ask for repayment, as long as they don't ask for more back than they've paid Mum we've not lost anything except for a bit of time on the phone.

AsknAnswer2

Very good Pollycat.

Thank you for coming back to the thread - it's lovely to hear an outcome.

dave3652

Hi, i know this is an old thread but thought i'd ask anyway...
My uncle died last week, he was in a home for the last few weeks of his life, i am handling his funeral etc, i am going to be applying for the social fund funeral grant.. The basic funeral is going to cost £2200.00, how much of this will the grant roughly cover? Also, during the last few weeks of my uncles life his pension credit was paid into his account, when he needed anything my dad would withdraw some of it to pay for whatever he needed, there's currently a few hundred pounds in the account.. Is it legal to withdraw it and put it towards the funeral expenses?

thank you

Mojisola

dave3652 wrote: »

My uncle died last week, he was in a home for the last few weeks of his life, i am handling his funeral etc, i am going to be applying for the social fund funeral grant.. The basic funeral is going to cost £2200.00, how much of this will the grant roughly cover?

Also, during the last few weeks of my uncles life his pension credit was paid into his account, when he needed anything my dad would withdraw some of it to pay for whatever he needed, there's currently a few hundred pounds in the account.. Is it legal to withdraw it and put it towards the funeral expenses?

It's best to wait in case some of it is overpayment which will be claimed back by the DWP.

As your father is a closer relative than you to your uncle, he may be expected to pay for the funeral.