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Can I get help with funeral costs?

Home » Advice on Funeral Costs » Can I get help with funeral costs?

If you’re responsible for arranging the funeral and on a low income, you may be eligible for a Funeral Payment to cover various aspects of the costs. These payments are made through the Social Fund, a government fund to help people with one-off payments and emergency expenses.

There are strict rules about who can get help and how much. As you won’t get a definite decision on your application for a payment until after the funeral, it’s best to check if you are eligible before you make the funeral arrangements.

To qualify for a payment, you or your partner must receive certain means-tested benefits, including Pension Credit. You should also be the person who would usually be expected to pay for the funeral, for example if you are the partner (including same-sex partners) of the deceased. If the deceased had no partner, a close relative or a close friend can be considered for a Funeral Payment but the rules are quite complicated. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can refuse an application from a close relative or friend if it considers that another close relative could arrange and pay for the funeral.

You must claim within three months of the funeral, and you may not be able to get a payment if the deceased person had a pre-paid funeral plan.

If there is no money for a funeral, the council will arrange a public welfare funeral, although they may seek the costs back from the estate. Contact your local council for further information or in Northern Ireland contact the local Health and Social Care board.

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Funeral Director fees

The price quoted contains the Funeral Director fees for a simple funeral. This includes:

Funeral Director fees for meetings, paperwork and running the funeral
Collection of the deceased and care prior to funeral
Hearse or appropriate vehicle for transport to the funeral
Basic coffin

The Funeral Director fees quoted do not include third party costs (often called disbursements). The Funeral Director will guide you through your options. These costs are:

Cremation or burial fees
Medical certificate for cremation
Clergy or officiant fee for conducting the ceremony

In addition to the disbursements you may want to discuss optional costs with your Funeral Director - these could include:

Funeral flowers
Memorial (venue hire, catering etc)
Memorial headstone
Orders of service

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What is a Direct Cremation?

A Direct Cremation is an alternative to the traditional funeral. This involves the cremation of the deceased without a funeral service. A Direct Cremation is generally the most economic option because costs of the coffin, preparation of the body, funeral service and expensive transportation are not included. However, many people choose Direct Cremations for reasons other than expense, for example:

- Wanting to have a memorial at a different time to the cremation
- Expressed desire from the deceased to not have a ceremony
- Individuals with relatives who face big physical or geographical challenges in coming together for a ceremony

The prices quoted for Direct Cremations include:

All charges, meetings and paperwork for the cremation
Collection of deceased and care prior to cremation
A simple coffin and urn for the ashes
Cremation fees and delivery of ashes to the family

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Attended funeral

This is Funeral Choice’s best estimate of this Funeral Director’s fees for an Attended Funeral, which is where family and friends have a ceremony or service for the deceased person at the same time as they attend their burial or cremation.

This price includes the following:

Taking care of all necessary legal and administrative arrangements
Collecting and transporting the deceased person from the place of death (normally within 15 miles of the funeral director’s premises) into the funeral director’s care
Care of the deceased person before the funeral in appropriate facilities.
Providing a suitable coffin
Optional viewing of the deceased person for family and friends, by appointment with the funeral director
At a date and time you agree with the funeral director, taking the deceased person direct to the agreed cemetery or crematorium (normally within 20 miles of the funeral director’s premises) in a hearse or other appropriate vehicle

In addition to the Funeral Director’s fee, there will be third party costs to consider (sometimes called disbursements) to cover the other aspects of a funeral (such as the crematorium or burial fees). Your chosen Funeral Director will be able to provide these for you.

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Unattended funeral

This is Funeral Choice’s best estimate of this Funeral Director’s fees and the crematorium fee for an Unattended Funeral, which is where family and friends may choose to have a ceremony, event or service for the deceased person, but they do not attend the burial or cremation itself. This is also known as a Direct Cremation.

This price includes the following:

Funeral Director's fees
Crematorium fee (for an unattended funeral) as selected by the Funeral Director

In addition to this fee, there might be additional third party costs to consider (sometimes called disbursements). Your chosen Funeral Director will be able to explain these for you.

If you wish to attend the funeral, you should view the “Attended Funeral” price instead.

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Why is this price Estimated?

We work hard to ensure the Funeral Director Fees we display are accurate and up to date. However, unlike with our partners, we cannot guarantee this price is correct today.

Funeral Director fees

The price quoted contains the Funeral Director fees for a simple funeral. This includes:

Funeral Director fees for meetings, paperwork and running the funeral
Collection of the deceased and care prior to funeral
Hearse or appropriate vehicle for transport to the funeral
Basic coffin

The Funeral Director fees quoted do not include third party costs (often called disbursements). The Funeral Director will guide you through your options. These costs are:

Cremation or burial fees
Medical certificate for cremation
Clergy or officiant fee for conducting the ceremony

In addition to the disbursements you may want to discuss optional costs with your Funeral Director - these could include:

Funeral flowers
Memorial (venue hire, catering etc)
Memorial headstone
Orders of service

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Funeral Choice charity donation

To redeem the £20 charity donation all you have to do is select the charity from the dropdown list in the Make Contact form. Once you have confirmed arrangements with that funeral director send us an email to info@yourfuneralchoice.com confirming the service has been arranged. After we receive this email we will make the donation to the chosen charity and confirm back to you.

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