Funeral Payments

Funeral Payments for people who died on or after 1 April 2018

What is it?

A Funeral Payment is payable to persons on low incomes who have taken responsibility for paying the funeral expenses of a person who has died.

Basic qualifying conditions

You may be able to get a Funeral Payment if you or your partner have taken responsibility for paying the funeral expenses of:

• your deceased partner or child, or
• a close relative or close friend of yours who has died as long as it is reasonable for you to accept responsibility for those expenses (which will depend on the level of contact you had with the person who has died).

To get a payment you or your partner must be entitled to an income-related benefit (see below) when:

• the claim for a funeral payment is made, and
• the person in question died.

Those benefits are:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, and
• Employed Person’s Allowance.

But you cannot get a Funeral Payment if you and your partner together have capital of more than £6,000.

Amount

A Funeral Payment will meet certain expenses in full and include an allowance for other expenses.

How and when should I apply

Please complete claim form FP1 – Funeral Payment and form FP2 (to be completed in part by the Funeral Director) and take or send them to a Social Security office (address below). You must claim within 12 months of the date of death or you will not be entitled to a Funeral Payment.

Contact details: