death benefit help please

alkat

hi, this is my first post.
a few weeks ago my wifes brother died, he was not insured, and had no money, but was on full benefit for a terminal ilness.
we applied to the benefits people for a grant, and we were sent a form to fill in.
my wifes sister filled the form in as she gets income support etc. we had to arrange the funeral and were told it would be £1.997.00 for a basic including cremation.
we explained to the undertakers that we would be applying for a grant towards the cost, and he said he could'nt see a problem with them giving us the grant.
to try and keep this short, the benefit agency have refused to to pay anything,, because in their words, there are five sisters in in the family who could pay.
so we told them, and sent proof that four are on benefit, and one is a pensioner who does not claim any benefit.
the reply was, (the one who is a pensioner will have to pay).
the pensioner does not have that sort of money, "who does"
we know that the benefits people will not pay the full amount, but anything at all from them would help a great deal.
the funeral director wants his money soon, and even he cant believe the benefits people are refusing any help.
where do we go from here please?
thanks for any help.

healy

You should be able to appeal the decision at an Independent Tribunal, but this is likely to take months and it may not change the decision. The best thing to do is to take advice from a welfare rights officer from the CAB, Local Council or Disability Organisation to see what your chances are at appeal.

Morglin

This is the criteria:

"Funeral Payments
What are they?
A Funeral Payment is a one-off payment. You have to pay a Funeral Payment back using the proceeds of the estate of the person who has died (if they have left one).

Are they for me?
You may get a payment to meet some or all of the funeral expenses of a partner, child, close relative or friend if you or your partner have to arrange a funeral and get:

Income Support
Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
Child Tax Credit at a rate higher than the family element
extra Working Tax Credit relating to a disability
Housing Benefit
Council Tax Benefit, or
Pension Credit.

You must claim a Funeral Payment at any time from the date the person died up to 3 months after the funeral.

What are the benefit rates?
Social Fund Funeral Payment covers the necessary cost of specified items or services plus up to £700 for other funeral expenses."

http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/Dev_008260.xml.html

You can ask the CAB for advice, but as one of the pensioners is not recieving a means-tested benefit, then I don't think they will pay the grant.

On a practical level, most funeral directors do make arrangements for the bill to be paid off over a period of time, in cases like this.

Lin

alkat

thanks for the replies,
they have been back in touch with the social, and they have been told to send a letter in for an appeal.
i will post back if there is any news,
thanks.