After The Funeral

Even if you are employed you may be entitled to financial assistance to help with funeral expenses. There are a number of various allowances/benefits to which you may be entitled. Our knowledgeable staff are available to offer advice, guidance and assistance with applications/claims.

For those on a qualifying benefit, the crisis loan system is being extended to include funeral payments.

Funeral Expenses Payments

If you’re on a low income and need help to pay for a funeral you’re arranging, you may be able to get a Funeral Expenses Payment from the Social Fund. You might have to repay some or all of it from the deceased person’s estate.

You must apply within six months of the funeral. The date the claim form is received in a Department for Communities office is the date payment will be considered from.

Eligibility

To get a Funeral Expenses Payment you must be responsible for the funeral and:

• get certain benefits or tax credits
• meet the rules on your relationship with the deceased
• claim in time
• meet the rules on where the funeral takes place

Benefits and tax credits

You may be eligible if you or your partner get 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 –Working Tax Credit which includes a disability or severe disability element – Child Tax Credit – Universal Credit

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

Relationship with the person who has died

You must be one of the following:

• the partner of the deceased when they died
• a close relative or close friend of the deceased
• the parent of a baby stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy
• the parent of the deceased child if they were under 16 (or under 20 and in full-time education)

If the parent is ‘absent’, you must be responsible for the child and the absent parent must get a qualifying benefit.

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

Child Funeral Fund:

The Child Funeral Fund is available as a one-off lump sum payment to cover the expense of a funeral of the death of a child under the age of 18, or stillborn after the 24th week of pregnancy.

There is no entitlement to the Child Funeral Fund where a payment has already been made about the expenses associated with the cost of the funeral by any other Government funeral expenses or bereavement schemes.

To be eligible:

• the funeral must usually take place in the UK
• if the funeral takes place in the Republic of Ireland, the deceased must normally have lived in Northern Ireland

There are different rules if the funeral takes place:

• outside the UK
• in the Republic of Ireland if the deceased was not normally resident in Northern Ireland

Bereavement Support Payment

Bereavement Support Payment gives financial help to deal with the more immediate costs caused by the death of a partner. It is paid where the date of death was on or after 6 April 2017.

Eligibility

You will qualify for Bereavement Support Payment if you and your partner were either:

• married
• in a registered civil partnership
• living together as if you were married, at the time of your partner’s death. Also, you must have either entitlement to Child Benefit; or have been/are pregnant at the time of your partner’s death

and

• your partner died on or after 6 April 2017
• you were under State Pension age when your partner died
• you were resident in the UK at the time of the death or live in a country where the UK has a relevant European Union or reciprocal agreement
• your partner had paid a minimum of 25 Class 1 or Class 2 National Insurance contributions in any single tax year during their working life – exceptions to this may apply: if your partner died as a result of an industrial accident or prescribed disease or was unable to work their entire working life due to a disability

You or your partner don’t need to be getting benefits to apply.

Payments

There are two rates of Bereavement Support Payment – ‘standard rate’ and ‘higher rate’. Payments may include an increased initial payment, followed by up to 18 smaller monthly payments.

Higher rate

If you are entitled to Child Benefit for at least one dependent child or were pregnant at the date of your partner’s death, you may be entitled to an initial payment of £3,500 and up to 18 monthly payments of £350.

Standard rate

If you were married or in a civil partnership but not pregnant or have no dependent children, you may be entitled to an initial payment of £2,500 and up to 18 monthly payments of £100.

Claiming the full entitlement

You are only entitled to the increased initial payment if your claim is made within 12 months of the death. To be eligible for up to 18 monthly payments, your claim must be made within three months of the death.

You can claim up to 21 months after the death but your payments will be less.

Bereavement Support Payment eligibility and payments stop when you reach State Pension age regardless of whether you choose to delay your State Pension.

Bereavement Support Payment will be paid directly into an account of your choice on a monthly basis.

All payments are tax free. Re-marrying or re-partnering will not affect your payments.

Effect on other benefits

Bereavement Support Payments will not affect other benefits you receive, however, in some circumstances they may be treated as savings when applying for other benefits.

Changes to Bereavement Support Payment

Eligibility changes to Bereavement Support Payment are effective from 30 August 2018 and came into effect on 09 February 2023.

You may now be eligible to a backdated claim of Bereavement Support Payment at the higher rate if you meet the following criteria:

• if you and your partner were living together as if you were married at the time of your partner’s death on or after 06 April 2017
• at the time of your partner’s death, you were entitled to Child Benefit or were pregnant
• you were under State Pension age when your partner died
• you were resident in the UK at the time of the death or live in a country where the UK has a relevant European Union or reciprocal agreement
• your partner had paid a minimum of 25 Class 1 or Class 2 National Insurance contributions in any single tax year during their working life – exceptions to this may apply: if your partner died as a result of an industrial accident or prescribed disease or was unable to work their entire working life due to a disability

The deadline to apply for any backdated Bereavement Support Payment under these circumstances is 08 February 2024.

If you were living together as if you were married at the time of your partner’s death, and you were not entitled to Child Benefit or pregnant, you have no entitlement to Bereavement Support Payment.

If the date of death of your partner was before 6 April 2017, you should visit Widowed Parents Allowance. Widowed Parent’s Allowance | nidirect

If you want to find out any more information, contact the Bereavement Service.

How to claim

To claim, phone the Bereavement Service on freephone 0800 085 2463 and select option 1.  You can also download an application form from Bereavement Support Payment application form | nidirect

If you use sign language, you might be able to use the video relay service to claim Bereavement Support Payments using British Sign Language (BSL) or Irish Sign Language (ISL). To access the service, go to:

Bereavement Service | nidirect

You may ben entitled to this pension if your husband, wife or civil partner died as a result of their service in H.M. Armed Forces.

As there are a number of benefits, allowances and pensions with different eligibility criteria, it can be difficult to be sure of exactly what you may be entitled to claim for.

Further information can be found on the following websites:

 

www.nidirect.gov.uk

www.turn2us.entitledto.co.uk

 

Our experienced office staff are available to offer advice, guidance and assistance.