Funeral Directors
Social Fund Payments
If you're on a low income and need help to pay for a funeral you're arranging, you may be eligible for a Funeral Payment from the Social Fund. You may have to repay some or all of it from the estate of the person who died.
This depends on the benefits you're receiving, your relationship with the person who has died and any other money, other than your personal savings, that may be available to help with the cost of the funeral.
Benefits and tax credits
You may be eligible for a Funeral Payment from the Social Fund if you or your partner are receiving any of the following benefits or tax credits:
- Income Support
- income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Pension Credit
- Housing Benefit
- Council Tax Benefit (or the Council Tax payer where you live gets a Second Adult Rebate because you are on a low income)
- Working Tax Credit which includes a disability or severe disability element
- Child Tax Credit at a rate higher than the family element
The term 'partner' is used here to mean:
A person you are married to, or person you live with as if you are married to them
a civil partner, or person you live with as if you are civil partners.
To be able to get a Funeral Payment you must also be either:
- the partner of the deceased when they died
- the parent of the deceased child, or have been responsible for the deceased child (and there is no absent parent) (unless they are getting one of the above qualifying benefits or were estranged from the child at the date of death)
- the parent of a still-born child
- a close relative or close friend of the deceased (and it is reasonable for you to accept responsibility for the funeral costs)
Other money available
When how much help you can receive is worked out, how much money (other than your personal savings) is available to help you with the cost of the funeral will also be looked at.
This could include money available from the estate of the person who died, contributions received and money from, for example, insurance policies, but does not include the social security Bereavement Payment or money from certain government-funded trusts.
To be eligible, the person who died must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and the funeral must usually be in the UK.
