Can i claim money for my fathers Funeral? He died of Cancer aged 56 and was on Benefits, all working children?

Question

My father died of Bowell Cancer over Christmas aged 56. He was claiming Incapacity Benefit but had nothing of any real value, as his eldest son and next of kin, is there any allowance i can claim to help off set the cost of his funeral, he had some insurance but i am not sure if it is still valid? I have been informed but not convinced that i can claim a one off payment, because he was less than 60 years old and that because he paid towards national insurance contributions that this will be paid to me? All his siblings are in full time employment.

Answer 1

http://www.direct.gov.uk/Bfsl1/BenefitsAndFinancialSupport/BenefitsAndFinancialSupportArticles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=10018660&chk=KqCZdM

Funeral Payments factsheetIf you're on a low income and need financial help to pay for a funeral you're arranging, you may be able to get a one-off Funeral Payment from the Social Fund. You might have to repay some or all of it from the estate of the person who died.

Who is eligible?
You may be able to get a Funeral Payment but it depends on the benefits you're getting, your relationship with the person who died and any other money that may be available to help with the cost of the funeral.

Benefits and tax credits
You may be able to claim a Funeral Payment from the Social Fund if you, your partner or civil partner are getting any of the following benefits or tax credits:

Income Support
income-based Jobseeker's 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
Income Support factsheet
Council Tax Benefit factsheet
Pension Credit factsheet



Relationship with the person who has died
To be able to get a Funeral Payment you must also be either:

the partner or civil 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 your eligibility is worked out, any money 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.

Bereavement Payment factsheet



For UK residents and funerals
To be eligible, the person who died must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and the funeral must usually be in the UK.




Who isn’t eligible?
You can't get a payment as a close relative or close friend of the deceased if either:

the deceased had a partner or civil partner when they died
there's a parent, son or daughter of the deceased who has not been awarded one of the qualifying benefits or was not estranged from the deceased. This doesn't include family members who are: aged under 18, qualifying young persons for the purposes of Child Benefit, full-time students, members of religious orders, in prison or in hospital (and who had been awarded a qualifying benefit immediately before they entered prison or hospital), asylum seekers being supported by the National Asylum Support Service or family members not ordinarily resident in the UK or were estranged from the deceased
there's a close relative of the deceased, other than a close relative in one of the excluded groups listed above not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, who was in closer contact with the deceased than you were, or had equally close contact and is not getting a qualifying benefit


How much do you get?
A Funeral Payment will cover the costs of a simple low-cost funeral.

If the person who died had a pre-paid funeral plan, you'll only get help for items not already covered by the plan.

You can get full details of what the Funeral Payment covers on pages six and seven of the claim form that you can download, below.

Download Funeral Payment claim form (PDF document, 122K) (opens new window)
Help with PDF files

How it’s paid
Funeral Payments are usually paid by cheque made out in the funeral director’s name, which is sent to you for you to give to them.

Good luck

Answer 2

My Condolences. My uncle passed away 3 weeks ago. He was 78. All his brothers are working except for my father(retired). My uncle was a singe man, never having married. If you ring the hospital and ask for the section that deals with funeral services as in the assistance with paperwork etc. They will help you complete the forms which they send off to the Department of Health & Social Security. We received £1000. If you have no such facility at the hospital you will need to go to Citizens Advice. I can see no reason why you should not get the benefit. I hope you do make a claim for it as each year there are thousands of pounds in unclaimed benefits. I wish you luck. PS. I think that figure is a set figure.

Answer 3

As a mother - it breaks my heart. As the wife of a Corrections Officer, I understand why. To start off with, we are talking about two different states - it could be across the border and the red tape and cost involved is astronomical. You would need two to three different federal correction officers from each state who would be working overtime, you would need to be able to pay for food and secure housing of the prisoner before, during, and after transport. You would need special permission for the prisoner to even go to the hospital (our local hospital only allows one prisoner in their hospital at any one time, if someone else gets hurt or sick, they have to travel an hour and a half to another hospital, even though there is one 30 minutes away - but it's across the border) Finally, this particular prisoner may be a problem within the facility, and the decision may be based on his record within the facility itself. There's always the rest of the story...

Answer 4

Yes you can get help from the DSS it will be worked out on what your father had so you should get it. My heart goes out to you and your family God bless you all I lost my father on the 14th december 24 yrs ago Take care x

Answer 5

try it never no