Page 1 of Can anyone give advice about funeral costs ? (applying for a grant etc)

a friend of mines father has recently passed away, & my friend spent most of yesterday going from funeral home to funeral home, unfortunately my friend hasnt got any means to pay, (long term sick due to injury)  & the places he went to localy all want £xxx deposit, which he simply doesnt have..

surely given his circumstances there will be some help available ? we know theres a grant available towards the costs, but that doesn`t help him to get the ball rolling.

if anyone can help point him in the right direction i`d be grateful :)

sorry to say, there is very little help out there... my father in law is terminal with Cancer and wasn`t expected  to be here in september, but he is still hanging on.

He hasn`t got the proverbial pot to pee in... so it looks like i have to stump up my hard earned to sort it all out.

My two sisters in law hadnt spoke nto him for nearly ten years until we told them he was dying, now they are the prodigal daughters... and my wife is lucky if she gets a text from him!  She drives 70 miles every week one night after working all day to go and see him, clean and shop etc, the other two live and work within 5 miles and do F all...

The up shot is they are expecting us to pick up the tab... and have as much as said they wont pay a thing! They have more important things to spend their money on like going out every weekend and getting p1$$ed!

We have longterm family friend who is a funeral director, even at mates rates its going to cost £1600, he did suggest contacting the local cancer charities... all have said its down to relatives as he has them!

We contacted CAB, who advised, for those on benefits (none of the family qualify), you can get a loan/grant, which is paid back from your benefits... Even the old fashioned `paupers` grave system costs money around £1400... and the local authorities will always look to recover costs from assets if the deceased has any or relatives.

Even when you are at your lowest ebb... the vultures will circle, ready to pick!    

So this year the family holiday fund looks like it will go on a funeral... i don`t begrudge this for my wife, all i can say is all of us should seriously consider life insurance or funeral plan/ or put savings away for this, so our families dont get lumbered!

This item was edited on Saturday, 10th December 2011, 12:06

Try contacting his local Jobcentre for a crisis loan:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018856
 
There`s other advice here:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Death/WhatToDoAfterADeath/DG_066724

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Si Wooldridge
Reviewer

http://synth.myreviewer.com

Ogs, did the deceased have any money? When my nan passed earlier this year, I was allowed to withdraw the money from her savings.

Otherwise... Citizens advice may be able to advise..?

Some more on death-related benefits:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Bereaved/DG_10018660
 
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Si Wooldridge
Reviewer

http://synth.myreviewer.com

if you are lucky/unfortunate enough to qualify, the maximum benefit grant payable is £700.

When my dad died 4 years ago, we couldn`t afford to pay anything towards his funeral, and there was a grant which covered the costs, as long as we had cheap and cheerful.  We went to the Co-op, and they helped us organise the paperwork and stuff for it.  I can`t quite remember ifthey either agreed to wait for payment until the funds came from the government help thingy, or if they agreed to it, and the money was paid straight to them, but we certainly couldn`t have afforded anything much of a deposit coz dad had been out of work for years and we`d all taken time off work to help care for him.
   
The direct.gov website has some information as to who is eligible for help etc here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Bereaved/DG_10018660  

On a side note, although they were very helpful with the money side of things, I wouldn`t recommend co-op funerals for a compassionate or empathetic service...and have since sent several complaints(starting about 3 weeks after my dad`s funeral) regarding the way they treated my mum and they`ve not even had the decency to reply.

This item was edited on Saturday, 10th December 2011, 12:14

I`m surprised the funeral houses are asking for a deposit, when my old fella popped his clogs the only money discussion we had were flowers, burial or cremation.. the funeral cost £1,690 with no real pressure to pay by a certain time as long as I wasn`t going to taking the **** and pay by instalments 2 years later... At the time I was lucky as he had made provisions.

When my other half`s dad passed she as a single mum got £1,150 towards basic costs which helped a great deal as the family didn`t have a pot to **** in.

The person named on the Will should try http://www.mylostaccount.org.uk/ when they feel up-to it, it`s surprising how many people have dormant accounts knocking about that they had forgot about, if anything is found it might help re-coup some costs.

cheers guys, i`ll pass the info on:)

Hiya, Pending your circumstance you may be able to apply for a payment from the social fund for help with funeral costs provided that you fit within the means tested criteria.  Possibly you could contact your local job centre plus or any voluntary organisation thats deals with welfare benefits advice.  Or may be you could google this: Funeral Payments : Directgov - Money, tax and benefits.  Hope this helps
Kind Regards
Me