Funeral Cost

Legacy_user

My Friends daughter has just passed away aged only 25 due to illness and possibly a c**k up by the hospital.The daughter was on benefits.

Is her mother entitled to any help with funeral costs from DWP bc she is on just over the minimum wage,10p more to be exact.

The undertakers are asking for £2000 upfront and her mother does not have this kind of money.

Help would be appreciated.

mysterywoman10

Really sorry to hear of your friends loss.

It gives the information here:

https://www.gov.uk/funeral-payments/eligibility

It will go on the income of the mother, not the person who was on benefits. Also they don't give very much either certainly not £2000.

Funerals are very expensive and it's very distressing having to worry about the costs on top of dealing with loosing a loved one. Many funeral directors will offer payment plans so this may be worth her enquiring about.

I will ask my neighbour tomorrow if she knows of any specific plans as she is a funeral arranger. If I find anything out I'll post more information.

Also you may get more advice from the Death, Funerals, Probate board here at MSE.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=217

A useful link from there:

http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/index.php?page=keeping-funeral-costs-down

PippaGirl_2

I looked in to this recently. If she can not afford it, she can simply refuse to pay and then either the council or the hospital (depending on where she died) have to pay the cost and this is called a public health funeral which is basic and they make all the arrangements and your friend would not have any choices. The natural death link above is excellent about how you can arrange your own independent funeral which saves a lot. I worked out you could organise a cremation and buy coffin for under £600.

Unfortunately when applying for funeral grant the eligibility is the person organising it needs to be receiving a means tested benefit and there is no other close relative who could foot the cost, so even if the mother was on such benefits if there is a father somewhere they would turn her down unless she could prove the dd was estranged from her father. It seems very few people are therefore eligible for the funeral grant. So the choices I decided were to a) refuse to pay and let the hospital/council pay or to organise any independent funeral for under £600, using a funeral director was just not an option here due to lack of funds.

midnight_express

If she can't pay for the funeral she shouldn't instruct a funeral director or sign a contract or she will be liable for the cost. Most funeral directors these days will accept credit cards. If someone dies in hospital and the body isn't claimed the hospital will dispose of the body.

PippaGirl_2

Adding to midnight's post above, just to clarify, the hospital in 'disposing of the body' do that with a cremation and a funeral (basic).

blackandwhitebunny

PippaGirl wrote: »

Unfortunately when applying for funeral grant the eligibility is the person organising it needs to be receiving a means tested benefit and there is no other close relative who could foot the cost, so even if the mother was on such benefits if there is a father somewhere they would turn her down unless she could prove the dd was estranged from her father. It seems very few people are therefore eligible for the funeral grant. So the choices I decided were to a) refuse to pay and let the hospital/council pay or to organise any independent funeral for under £600, using a funeral director was just not an option here due to lack of funds.

My father died last year leaving his second wife without any real source of income. We organised the funeral through a private funeral home and they actually helped her fill in the forms and didn't ask for any money up front and didn't actually send an invoice until six weeks after the funeral. The fund actually paid £1500 of the costs and I paid the rest. We were completely honest about the situation, I could afford to pay and my half brother and sister are both employed as well but they paid out based on his wife's situation rather than whether there was any other close relative who could pay.

System

I think my Friend only used these undertakers bc the family have used them for years.

Thanks for the advice.

mrsbutton

How sad and so young. My thoughts are with your friend.

My mother passed away around 3 years ago, I at the time had just lost my job and on Job Seekers and Applied for the Funeral fund.
I got the full £1,111 which I believe is the highest they can give but this was only received after the funeral.
It's worth a try tbh cause I imagine she will get some help in some way.
Let the funeral directors know that you are waiting on the grant and they should be quite helpful.

Hope this helps.

Mojisola

blackandwhitebunny wrote: »

We were completely honest about the situation, I could afford to pay and my half brother and sister are both employed as well but they paid out based on his wife's situation rather than whether there was any other close relative who could pay.

You were lucky -

"If there’s a close relative of the deceased who isn’t getting one of the qualifying benefits you may not be able to claim Funeral Payment."

[Deleted User]

Mojisola wrote: »

You were lucky -

"If there’s a close relative of the deceased who isn’t getting one of the qualifying benefits you may not be able to claim Funeral Payment."

when my fil died his wife couldnt afford the funeral we couldnt help but his son worked ft and was on goof money at the time but she got a full grant which from memory was around £2000
this was 10 years ago,have things changed?

Shunter64

woodbine wrote: »

when my fil died his wife couldnt afford the funeral we couldnt help but his son worked ft and was on goof money at the time but she got a full grant which from memory was around £2000
this was 10 years ago,have things changed?

The £2000 could well have been the Bereavement Payment that can be paid to surviving spouses or civil partners dependent primarily on the national insurance contributions paid by the deceased though there are some other conditions. This should not however be confused with the funeral grant that is means tested.

If the poor girl left a spouse or civil partner they may be able to claim Bereavement Benefit and can do so by ringing the bereavement service. If she didn't it would still be advisable for your friend to ring the BS as they can advise all govt. departments of the death and offer advice on how to claim the funeral payment.