Funeral payment question

Colosolo

Hi,

I wonder if someone could advise on this for my mum.

My father passed away a few weeks back and I applied to the funeral fund on her behalf.

We received a letter back to say they would not give any money towards it.

My mother is on a state pension and on guarteed pension credit. She has 1500 saved and the letter said all these savings should be used to pay towards the funeral and as such she was not entitled to anything.

That's everything she has.

I have paid a big chunk of the funeral myself, obviously even a basic funeral comes to a great deal more than what they offer anyway, which is fine.

But it seems a little harsh that she is expected to give all her savings when there are bills to pay and the only money coming in is a state pension and pension credit.

Is it only people with no savings that get money from the fund?

I have tried to find criteria for this, but all it lists is pension credit. I can't find details of savings.

Thanks

Colosolo

Sorry just to add.

I just found this link dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/technical-guidance/sb16-a-guide-to-the-social/funeral-payments/

If you have any savings : Your savings do not affect Funeral Payments

Has something changed and they have not updated it?

paddedjohn

As far as i know, as long as there is a son or daughter of the deceased who is not on any qualifying benefits and was not estranged from the deceased then you wont get anything.

Colosolo

Really? Their reason though was the fact there is 1500 of savings in my mums account. There was no mention of me.

paddedjohn

Who isn't eligible?


You can't get a payment as a close relative or close friend of the deceased if either:

• the deceased had a partner when they died
• there's a parent, son or daughter of the deceased who has not been awarded one of the qualifying benefits or was not estranged from the deceased - this doesn't include family members who are: aged under 18, qualifying young persons for the purposes of Child Benefit, full-time students, members of religious orders, in prison or in hospital (and who had been awarded a qualifying benefit immediately before they entered prison or hospital), asylum seekers being supported by the National Asylum Support Service or family members not ordinarily resident in the UK
• there's a close relative of the deceased other than a close relative in one of the excluded groups listed above, who was in closer contact with the deceased than you were, or had equally close contact and is not getting a qualifying benefit

How much do you get?


A Funeral Payment includes necessary burial or cremation fees, certain other specified expenses and up to £700 for any other funeral expenses, like the:

• funeral director's fees
• coffin or flowers

If the person who died had a pre-paid funeral plan, you'll only get help for items not already covered by the plan.
You can get full details of what the Funeral Payment covers on pages six and seven of the claim form (SF200) that you can download, below.



for more info see www.directgov.uk



Hope this helps.

Pollycat

Colosolo wrote: »

Hi,

I wonder if someone could advise on this for my mum.

My father passed away a few weeks back and I applied to the funeral fund on her behalf.

We received a letter back to say they would not give any money towards it.

My mother is on a state pension and on guarteed pension credit. She has 1500 saved and the letter said all these savings should be used to pay towards the funeral and as such she was not entitled to anything.

That's everything she has.

I have paid a big chunk of the funeral myself, obviously even a basic funeral comes to a great deal more than what they offer anyway, which is fine.

But it seems a little harsh that she is expected to give all her savings when there are bills to pay and the only money coming in is a state pension and pension credit.

Is it only people with no savings that get money from the fund?

I have tried to find criteria for this, but all it lists is pension credit. I can't find details of savings.

Thanks

I'm not clear whether you filled the form in for your Mum and she signed it (i.e. she made the claim) or you claimed it.

Pammy

***********

Colosolo

Pollycat wrote: »

I'm not clear whether you filled the form in for your Mum and she signed it (i.e. she made the claim) or you claimed it.

She signed it. I filled it out.

sheep-ali

When my mother died last year I was assured by the undertaker that I would get a grant towards funeral expenses. My OH is on guaranteed pension credit.
Local dwp office agreed that this was the case.
Got forms, checked the exclusions & queried again at local office as the exclusions were so wide-ranging that I wondered if anyone ever qualified. Was again assured that I qualified.
Not so, as siblings were not on a qualifying benefit.
My siblings have paid their share but 18 months later, I am still making payments towards my share. I think it will take me the rest of my life to pay it off, if then.
This has made my mother's death even harder to come to terms with as this is hanging over me all the time.

Pollycat

So the claim came from your Mum.

I'm not clear at all about funeral payments (see my thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3519417 ) but as you say savings do not affect funeral payments so I can't see why they would reject the claim on that basis.

Have you queried the decision?

Colosolo

Thanks. I am going to query the decision but wanted to post here first to get the information.

Sheep-ali it's a difficult time and I think it's a shame there isn't more help or at least more awareness of the costs involved so people can do a funeral plan.

I have never arranged a funeral before and was gob-smacked by the costs