Paying for a Funeral: Costs and Help

A funeral with mourners present commonly costs upwards of £4,000, and the bill usually has to be settled long before the person's estate is unlocked¹. Whoever arranges the funeral takes on that cost personally: the contract is with the funeral director, not with the estate. If you are on a low income, the government's Funeral Expenses Payment can contribute towards the cost, but it is means-tested, it looks at other relatives' circumstances as well as your own, and it is recovered from the estate if there is money in it².

The payment covers reasonable burial or cremation fees plus up to £1,000 towards other funeral expenses such as the funeral director's fees and the coffin³. Independent guidance notes that the average funeral payment covers less than half the average cost of a simple funeral, so it is a contribution rather than full coverage². Where nobody can or will pay, the local council has a legal duty to arrange a simple burial or cremation, known as a public health funeral⁴.

What a funeral costs and what the payment covers

A funeral with mourners present is not uncommonly upwards of £4,000, a figure that covers the funeral director's charges, the cremation or burial fees, and the extras families often choose¹. The bill falls due quickly: funeral directors typically require payment before or shortly after the funeral, while probate or confirmation can take months. The dedicated page on paying for a funeral before probate explains how money can sometimes be released from the deceased person's bank account first.

The Funeral Expenses Payment is a government grant towards the cost of a funeral, paid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland⁶. It covers the cost of a simple burial or cremation³. The main costs it contributes towards are²:

• reasonable burial or cremation fees
• doctors' fees, in Northern Ireland
• up to £1,000 towards other funeral expenses, generally those covered by the funeral director's fees, or do-it-yourself costs such as the coffin
• death certificates needed to release money belonging to the person who died
• one return journey to arrange or attend the funeral, not including the cost of a funeral car
• in some circumstances, transport costs if the person who died needs to be moved over 50 miles

The scale of the gap between the grant and the real bill is long-standing. The cap on the contribution towards expenses other than burial or cremation was £700, a figure unchanged since 2003⁸, and the House of Commons Library still describes the maximum for other expenses such as funeral directors' fees, the coffin, church fees and flowers as £700⁹. Current guidance puts the figure at up to £1,000³. The average funeral payment covers less than half the average cost of a simple funeral².

Up to £1,000 for other costs, on top of burial or cremation fees

The £1,000 element of the payment is the part families feel most directly, because it is what stands between the burial or cremation fees and everything else: the funeral director's professional services, the coffin, church fees and flowers³. If you are making your own arrangements rather than using a funeral director, the same allowance covers costs such as the coffin².

Where the person who died had a pre-paid funeral plan, this contribution is capped at £120, to help pay for items the plan did not cover⁶. The rules on pre-paid funeral plans are covered separately.

One practical difficulty is timing. The DWP requires an invoice to process a claim, which means applicants must commit to meeting funeral costs without knowing how much, if anything, they will receive⁹. You can claim before the funeral takes place if you have an invoice or signed contract from the funeral director, not an estimate¹⁰. If you have already paid, the money goes into your bank account; if not, it can be paid directly to the funeral director or organiser¹⁰.

Who can get a Funeral Expenses Payment

A Funeral Expenses Payment can be paid out of the Social Fund to support people on certain low-income benefits who need help paying for the funeral of someone close to them¹¹. You, or your partner, must be responsible for the funeral costs, and you must apply within six months of the date of the funeral⁶.

The DWP looks at two things when deciding whether to award a payment: the applicant's benefits, and very possibly the benefits of some of the deceased person's family, plus whether they consider the applicant to have had the closest contact with the deceased². There are no specific age rules for the applicant¹².

Responsibility matters in law as well as in practice. Under the regulations, the claimant must be the responsible person or the partner of the responsible person, and the claimant or their partner must accept responsibility for meeting the costs of the funeral¹³. Whether it is reasonable to accept that responsibility is determined by the nature and extent of the person's contact with the deceased¹⁴.

The partner rule is strict. If the person who died was living with a partner, the DWP will only consider an application from that partner, and it is only that partner's benefits that are taken into account². Independent analysis of the scheme puts it bluntly: if the person who died lived with a partner, the DWP will expect them to take care of the funeral, and anyone else's application will be rejected¹. After a live-in partner, the DWP expects the person who had the closest contact with the deceased to apply².

Qualifying benefits for a Funeral Expenses Payment

You or your partner need to be receiving one of the following income-related benefits²:

• Universal Credit
• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Housing Benefit

A Support for Mortgage Interest loan also counts¹⁰. You can still claim if you have applied for one of these benefits and are waiting for a decision, but the DWP may delay deciding your claim until that benefit has been decided¹⁰. In Scotland, the equivalent list for Funeral Support Payment includes Income Support, state pension credit, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Housing Benefit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit¹⁵.

If you get Universal Credit and are arranging the funeral of someone you had a close relationship with, you may be eligible for a Funeral Expenses Payment¹⁶. Being on a qualifying benefit is necessary but not sufficient: the family tests in the next section can still block a claim.

How family members' circumstances affect a claim

This is the part of the scheme that surprises most people. It is not only your own benefits that are examined. Any close relatives, for example adult brothers and sisters, including half and step relatives, who were at least as close to the deceased as the person applying must also be on a qualifying benefit². Immediate family members, meaning a parent or adult child of the deceased, who do not fall into certain exceptions must also be on a qualifying benefit, no matter who applies².

There are two exceptions. The DWP should ignore a family member's benefit status if they were estranged from the deceased, meaning the relationship had broken down, or if they are under 18². Separately, if the person who died had a close relative who is not getting one of the qualifying benefits or is in work, you may not be able to receive a payment¹⁰.

In Northern Ireland, the regulations state that a claimant is not entitled to a funeral payment where the responsible person is an immediate family member, a close relative or a close friend of the deceased and an immediate family member or their partner was not on a qualifying benefit and was not estranged from the deceased, subject to exceptions¹⁴. In Scotland, the test is expressed differently: it must be reasonable for the client or their partner to have accepted responsibility, which usually means they are the nearest relative, such as a partner, child, parent or sibling, or they can provide information supporting why it was reasonable¹⁷.

Money in the estate is usually deducted from the payment

The payment is reduced by any money in the deceased person's estate that is available without probate or letters of administration, except money held as a joint tenancy, meaning a joint account where both people paid in and neither has restrictions on withdrawing⁶. So if the person who died had savings in a bank account or an insurance policy, that money is deducted from any award paid out². Arrears of benefits paid into the account on the date of death or afterwards should not be deducted⁶.

This is why the question of paying for a funeral before probate matters. Funeral expenses can be paid from the deceased person's estate and are often the highest priority, except for some secured debts such as a mortgage¹⁸. Money left by the person who died is first used towards the cost of their funeral, before rent, utilities and other debts¹⁹. In Scotland, the same principle applies: any available funds in the estate should be deducted from the award²⁰, and funeral expenses should always be paid from the deceased's moveable estate first²¹.

The payment itself is recoverable. You do not have to repay it from your own money, but if the deceased person left sufficient assets, such as money or property, the DWP is entitled to recover the payment from the estate and will usually attempt to do so⁶. Northern Ireland's guidance states the same: you might have to repay some or all of it from the deceased person's estate²². In Scotland, Funeral Support Payments are treated as a funeral cost and may need to be repaid from the estate before any inheritance is paid out²¹.

How to claim a Funeral Expenses Payment

In England and Wales, you can apply by phoning the DWP Bereavement Service on 0800 151 2012, or by filling in a paper SF200 form and posting it⁶. In Northern Ireland, you can contact the Bereavement Service on 0800 085 2463, or fill in an SF200 form and post it⁶. Age UK also lists a Bereavement Service helpline on 0800 731 0469 for making a claim³. If the person who died lived in Northern Ireland, you may also be able to claim for a funeral in the Republic of Ireland²³.

You must apply within six months of the date of the funeral⁵. You can claim before the funeral if you have an invoice or signed contract from the funeral director¹⁰. The DWP aims to process claims within 13 working days, though in practice it can take longer⁶. If you have already paid, the money goes to your bank account; if not, it can go straight to the funeral director¹⁰.

Funerals of children and stillborn babies

There are different schemes in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for paying for the funeral of a child under 18 or a stillborn child, and you may be able to get extra help¹². In Northern Ireland, the Child Funeral Fund is a one-off lump sum to cover the expense of a funeral after the death of a child under 18, or a stillbirth after week 24 of pregnancy²². In England, the Children's Funeral Fund covers fees charged by burial or cremation authorities, including the burial plot and right of burial, burial and cremation fees, and the scattering or burial of ashes²⁴.

In Scotland, a client applying for the funeral of a stillborn child will qualify for Funeral Support Payment if they meet the eligibility criteria and have incurred costs²⁵. The same applies to the funeral of a baby born alive who then dies, including babies born alive prematurely who die before 24 completed weeks of pregnancy²⁵.

Separately, if your partner died you may be entitled to a Bereavement Support Payment, with an initial payment of £3,500 at the higher rate where you were getting Child Benefit or were pregnant when your partner died. You must claim within 12 months of your partner's death to get the initial payment; after that, only monthly payments are available²⁶. See benefits after a death for the wider picture.

Scotland and Northern Ireland: how the rules differ

If you live in Scotland, the Funeral Expenses Payment has been replaced by the Funeral Support Payment, a one-off payment from Social Security Scotland for both adult and children's funerals⁷. It can be applied for online, by phone or by paper form⁷, and applications can be made for up to six months after the date of the funeral²⁷. The payment is made up of burial, cremation or alkaline hydrolysis costs, travel and transport costs, documentation costs and a flat rate payment⁷.

The flat rate is higher in Scotland. For applications made on and after 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, the uprated standard flat rate payment is £1,279.15, which can be used to meet other funeral costs such as the funeral director's fees²⁸. Earlier rates were £1,178.75 for applications received from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, and £1,000.00 for those received from 16 September 2019 to 31 March 2021²⁸. Guidance for clients also describes a payment of £1,327.75 towards other funeral costs where the person who died had no funeral plan, reduced to £162.05 where they had one²⁹. Where there was a pre-paid funeral plan, the flat rate payment is £162.05³⁰, a figure set in the Scottish legislation for deaths from 1 April 2026 where the plan was paid for in full before the death and the deceased was 18 or over¹⁵.

Funeral Support Payment covers the cost of one return journey either to arrange the funeral or to attend it³¹. Travel costs for a funeral outside the UK require a local authority cost comparison and a case query with the Decision Support Team³¹. The amount paid can depend on how much of the deceased's money or assets is available to use towards funeral costs without confirmation having been granted¹⁷. A worked example from Social Security Scotland, for a person who died over 18 in the Glasgow City Council area with £250 savings, no funeral plan or insurance and an applicant travelling from Aberdeenshire, gives a total payment of £1,923.10²⁹.

In Northern Ireland, the Funeral Expenses Payment operates as in England and Wales, with information and application forms available at nidirect¹¹. Northern Ireland's Funeral Payment counts as government support already paid for Scottish claim purposes³².

Challenging a refused claim

If a claim is refused, the first stage is to ask the DWP to look at the decision again. This is called a mandatory reconsideration, and the deadline for asking is 30 days of the decision⁶. If the reconsideration does not change the outcome, an appeal can be made, and the deadline for requesting that is 30 days of the mandatory reconsideration decision⁶.

The Scottish figures give a sense of how often challenges succeed. Of the appeals decided, 35 were upheld in the clients' favour and 90 were not upheld in the clients' favour²⁸. The median response time for re-determinations, the Scottish equivalent of a mandatory reconsideration, is 12 working days²⁸.

Free help with a challenge is available. Advice NI covers bereavement benefits in Northern Ireland¹¹, and the organisations listed at the end of this page can help you prepare a reconsideration or appeal.

Public health funerals when no one can pay

If there is no money for a funeral, no one willing or able to pay for it, or the Funeral Expenses Payment does not cover the whole cost and paying the balance would leave you in debt, a public health funeral may be the answer³³. The council where the person died has a legal duty to carry out a burial or cremation if you cannot or will not make the arrangements⁴. If someone dies without enough money for a funeral and there is no one able to take responsibility, the local authority must bury or cremate them³⁴.

To ask for one, approach the local council where the person died and ask for a public health funeral³⁵. If the person died in hospital, speak to the bereavement office there first³⁵. A hospital will sometimes carry out the funeral instead of the council, using the NHS budget, but it has no obligation to do so⁴.

A public health funeral is simple. It includes a coffin and a funeral director to transport the person to the crematorium or cemetery³⁴. The council decides the time and place, and the style of the funeral is not the family's choice. Around one in two hundred deaths are paid for by the state in this way⁸. The council may claim the costs of the funeral from the deceased person's estate if there are sufficient funds, and it has no power to reimburse funeral costs where a third party has already arranged the funeral¹³. Public health funerals cost councils just over £4 million in one financial year alone, £4,050,672¹³.

Where to get free help

Several charities and public bodies offer free, impartial help with funeral costs. Down to Earth, run by Quaker Social Action, provides guidance and casework on paying for a funeral and on raising money towards one². Marie Curie publishes information on help with funeral costs and on paying for a funeral more generally¹⁰. Age UK advises on what to do when someone dies, including the Funeral Expenses Payment³³, and Independent Age lists the practical steps to take after a death, including applying for the payment within six months⁵. Turn2us explains who can get a Funeral Expenses Payment and how the payment works¹². In Scotland, mygov.scot sets out how the funeral can be paid for and how to apply for a Funeral Support Payment³⁶, and Contact covers the payment for families³⁷. For the wider practical and financial steps after a death, see the bereavement checklist and free bereavement support.