Funeral Expense Repayment

Matty007

My father died in December 2021, he and my mum were on Pension Credit and I accessed help from the funeral fund (approx. £1800), my mum was the sole beneficiary, which included only the family house and its personal contents (there was no money), my mum continues resides as she has for 50+ years at her house, the DWP have contacted me saying my mum is liable for repaying those expenses, I have had many discussions with DWP and they themselves seem unsure but continue to argue that this must be repaid, there is no other assets, just the family home where my mum lives.

I've looked into this and it seems straight forward, but am I missing something ??

Thank you

HillStreetBlues

After your father died,  did the Pension Credit continue for your mother?
And in whose name was the funeral fund claimed?
Are they saying why it should be repaid?

HillStreetBlues

Also when you say "no money"  did your father not have any money in the bank this would include a joint account?

calcotti

She may not entitled if there are other family members who can reasonably be expected to pay for the funeral
https://www.gov.uk/funeral-payments/eligibility

You might be able to get a Funeral Expenses Payment if you are:

• the partner of the deceased

• the parent of a baby stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy

• the parent or person responsible for a deceased child who was under 16 (or under 20 and in approved education or training)

If a close relative of the deceased (such as a sibling or parent) is in work or not getting a qualifying benefit, you might not get a Funeral Expenses Payment.

TELLIT01

If she has lived in the same house for 50+ years it seems unlikely there will be a parent to pay the bill.  The OP needs to get the exact reason DWP claim there is no entitlement to the payment.

calcotti

TELLIT01 said:

If she has lived in the same house for 50+ years it seems unlikely there will be a parent to pay the bill.  The OP needs to get the exact reason DWP claim there is no entitlement to the payment.

There might be a sibling. In any case parent or sibling are only mention as examples of close relatives. Although not mentioned in that information page the regulations include children within the definition of close relative.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/3061/regulation/3
Regulation 3 defines - “close relative” means a parent, parent-in-law, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, step-parent, step-son, step-son-in-law, step-daughter, step-daughter-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, sister or sister-in-law; 

OP, have DWP explained why they think she should repay it?

TELLIT01

calcotti said:

TELLIT01 said:

If she has lived in the same house for 50+ years it seems unlikely there will be a parent to pay the bill.  The OP needs to get the exact reason DWP claim there is no entitlement to the payment.

There might be a sibling.

Agreed, but requesting the exact reason DWP want the money back is still relevant.

calcotti

TELLIT01 said:

calcotti said:

TELLIT01 said:

If she has lived in the same house for 50+ years it seems unlikely there will be a parent to pay the bill.  The OP needs to get the exact reason DWP claim there is no entitlement to the payment.

There might be a sibling.

Agreed, but requesting the exact reason DWP want the money back is still relevant.

Of course it is - I didn’t suggest otherwise.

Matty007

Thank you for taking time to reply, my mum is on Pension Credit and is and will continue to live at the house on her own, I've had three calls with DWP, firstly they demanded that I as the executor was liable to pay personally (not from my dads estate) and then she said we had sold the house, we hadn't, later investigation showed that they must entered the address on 'rightmove' and found a house of a similar address had been sold 18 years ago, it had't, it was the wrong address and postcode, I sent a letter to confirm, then secondly a DWP operative agreed my mum wasn't liable to pay anything back and asked me to send a letter clarifying our position and thirdly today an DWP operative said that based the DWP position that if I had gone to probate (which I had) then mum is liable and if she hadn't then we weren't and asked again for me to send clarification, which I have again.

I remain polite and totally honest etc. but DWP operative doesn't seem to grasp their own rules on quite a simple set of circumstances.

HillStreetBlues

calcotti said:

She may not entitled if there are other family members who can reasonably be expected to pay for the funeral
https://www.gov.uk/funeral-payments/eligibility

You might be able to get a Funeral Expenses Payment if you are:

• the partner of the deceased

• the parent of a baby stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy

• the parent or person responsible for a deceased child who was under 16 (or under 20 and in approved education or training)

If a close relative of the deceased (such as a sibling or parent) is in work or not getting a qualifying benefit, you might not get a Funeral Expenses Payment.

AFIK  that would only apply if there wasn't a partner.

If there is a partner then that person would be the "responsible" person.
If there is no partner then the responsible could be a family member  or close friend.

Rubyroobs

Matty007 said:

Thank you for taking time to reply, my mum is on Pension Credit and is and will continue to live at the house on her own, I've had three calls with DWP, firstly they demanded that I as the executor was liable to pay personally (not from my dads estate) and then she said we had sold the house, we hadn't, later investigation showed that they must entered the address on 'rightmove' and found a house of a similar address had been sold 18 years ago, it had't, it was the wrong address and postcode, I sent a letter to confirm, then secondly a DWP operative agreed my mum wasn't liable to pay anything back and asked me to send a letter clarifying our position and thirdly today an DWP operative said that based the DWP position that if I had gone to probate (which I had) then mum is liable and if she hadn't then we weren't and asked again for me to send clarification, which I have again.

I remain polite and totally honest etc. but DWP operative doesn't seem to grasp their own rules on quite a simple set of circumstances.

They can look to close relatives for payment as explained above. The funeral grant is for cases where there really is no-one that can pay. On the old application forms for this grant ( not sure if the form still exists) you used to have to list any close relatives.