Funeral Expenses Payment: who qualifies, how much you get and how to claim

Funeral Expenses Payment covers burial or cremation fees plus up to £1,000 of other costs if you get certain benefits. Who qualifies and the time limit.

Benefits & Credits
Personal
Family & Parents
England
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland

If you are arranging a funeral in England or Wales and you or your partner get Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit or income-related Employment and Support Allowance, you may be able to get a Funeral Expenses Payment (also called a Funeral Payment) from DWP. It pays the necessary burial or cremation fees, some travel and document costs, and up to £1,000 for other funeral expenses such as the funeral director's fees, flowers or the coffin. It will not usually cover the whole funeral, and you must claim within 6 months of the funeral (GOV.UK Funeral Expenses Payment).

Scotland has a separate scheme, Funeral Support Payment, and Northern Ireland has its own Funeral Expenses Payment: see Scotland and Northern Ireland below.

Check if you could qualify

Each question is a condition in regulations 7 and 8 of the Social Fund Maternity and Funeral Expenses (General) Regulations 2005. "You" means the person taking responsibility for the funeral costs.

Where you live

Do you or your partner get Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, income-related ESA or a Support for Mortgage Interest loan?

Did the person who died normally live in the UK?

Where is the funeral?

When are you claiming?

Your relationship to the person who died

Answer the questions and press Check.

What the payment covers

The payment is "an amount sufficient to meet any relevant expenditure" less the deductions in regulation 10 (reg 9(1)). Relevant expenditure is costs you (or someone acting for you) have paid or must pay, after any discount the funeral director allows. Regulation 9(3) lists them:

Burial: the necessary cost of a new plot and right of burial, and the cemetery's burial fees (and a private grave-digger's, so far as necessary). Burying ashes after a cremation is not included (reg 9(5)).
Cremation: the crematorium's fees so far as necessary, and the fee for removing a device such as a pacemaker, capped at £20 if the person removing it is not a registered medical practitioner.
Documents: medical certificates or reports needed for the burial or cremation, and documents needed to release the deceased's assets.
Moving the body: the reasonable cost of transport within the UK beyond the first 80 kilometres (about 50 miles), counted as the combined distance from the funeral director's premises or place of rest to the place of death and back (reg 9(3)(d), 9(6)(a)).
Hearse and one car: where the journey from the funeral director's premises or place of rest to the funeral and back necessarily exceeds 80 kilometres, the reasonable cost beyond the first 80 (reg 9(3)(e), 9(6)(b)). For a burial in an existing plot, the transport plus the burial fees are met only up to what buying a new plot, with the burial fees and any transport to it, would have cost (reg 9(3)(e)(i), 9(8)).
Your travel: the necessary cost of one return journey to arrange or attend the funeral, capped at what a return journey from your home to the place where the burial or cremation costs would have been incurred would cost (reg 9(3)(f), 9(9)).
Everything else: "any other funeral expenses", up to £1,000 in any case, for example funeral director's fees, the coffin, cars or flowers (reg 9(3)(g); the sum is £1,000 for deaths on or after 8 April 2020 under SI 2020/405).

If the person who died had a pre-paid funeral plan, nothing is paid for items the plan provided, and the cap on other expenses falls to £120 (reg 9(10)). Any part of burial, cremation or transport costs that relates to a requirement of the deceased's religious faith is excluded (reg 9(7)). DWP's claim-form notes add that items outside the funeral director's bill, such as flowers, can only be paid if the funeral director's charges are less than £1,000 (SF200 notes).

The money goes straight to the funeral director if the bill is unpaid, or to your account if you have already paid (GOV.UK).

Estimate the payment

Enter the costs and press Estimate.

Worked example. Cremation fees of £1,000, £30 of certificates, a £40 return journey and a £2,500 funeral director's bill, with £250 in the deceased's bank account. The specific costs come to £1,070, the funeral director's bill counts only up to £1,000, and the £250 is deducted: an estimated payment of £1,820, leaving £1,500 to find from elsewhere.

Who qualifies

Regulation 7 sets seven conditions, and all of them must be met (reg 7(2)):

Benefit. At the date of the claim, you or your partner have an award of a qualifying benefit (reg 7(3), (4)). GOV.UK lists Universal Credit, income-related ESA, Pension Credit and Housing Benefit, and says you might also qualify on a Support for Mortgage Interest loan. The regulation also still names income support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance and some tax credit awards. You can claim while waiting for a decision on one of these benefits.
Residence of the person who died. They were ordinarily resident in the UK at the date of death (reg 7(5)).
Time. You claim within the prescribed time (reg 7(6)): from the date of death until 6 months after the date of the funeral (Claims and Payments Regulations 1987 Sch 4 para 9).
Responsibility. You are the person who accepts responsibility for the funeral expenses, or their partner (reg 7(1)(b), 7(7)).
Relationship. You meet one of the relationship routes below (reg 7(8)).
Place. The funeral is in the UK, or in an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland if you or your partner have one of the statuses in reg 7(10), such as indefinite leave under Appendix EU (reg 7(9)).
Where you live. You live in England and Wales (reg 7(9A)).

The relationship rules

The routes in reg 7(8) are taken in order:

Partner. You were the partner of the person who died at the date of death. DWP's notes treat you as partners if you lived together as a married couple or civil partners, or were living as a couple before one of you moved into a care home, or were married or civil partners in the same care home.
A child who died. You were the person, or the partner of the person, responsible for the child. If the child had an absent parent (one who did not live with them), that parent or their partner must have been on a qualifying benefit at the date of death. If they were not, this route fails, but you may still qualify as an immediate family member (below), where reg 8(1) stops the payment only if the absent parent was not estranged from the child and no reg 8(2) exception applies to them. A child means under 16, or a young person treated as a child for Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance (reg 3); GOV.UK puts it as under 20 and in approved education or training.
A stillborn baby. You were a parent, or the partner of a parent. GOV.UK describes this as a baby stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Parent, son or daughter (an "immediate family member", reg 3), where the person who died had no partner, and it is reasonable for you to accept responsibility.
Close relative or close friend, where the person who died had no partner and none of the routes above applies, and it is reasonable for you to accept responsibility. A close relative is a parent, parent-in-law, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, step-parent, step-son, step-son-in-law, step-daughter, step-daughter-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, sister or sister-in-law (reg 3).

For the last two routes, three further tests in reg 8 apply:

Reasonableness is judged "by the nature and extent of [your] contact with the deceased" (reg 8(5)).
The immediate family test (reg 8(1)). You do not qualify if the person who died has a parent, son or daughter who was not on a qualifying benefit at the date of death and was not estranged from them (DWP looks at that person's partner too). That person is ignored if, at the date of death, they were under 18; a qualifying young person for Child Benefit or Universal Credit; aged 18 and in full-time advanced education, or 19 to pension age and in a full-time course of study, as reg 8(2)(c) defines it; on asylum support; a member of and fully maintained by a religious order; in prison, remand or youth custody, or a hospital in-patient, after a qualifying benefit was in payment for them or their partner; living in a care home paid for wholly or partly by a local authority; or ordinarily resident outside the UK (reg 8(2)).
The close relative test (reg 8(6) to (8)). You do not qualify if a close relative was in closer contact with the person who died than you were, or in equally close contact and neither they nor their partner is on a qualifying benefit, unless that relative falls within the same exceptions.

If the person who died had a partner who died before the funeral without claiming, they are treated as having had no partner (reg 8(4)). GOV.UK also says a close relative or friend might qualify where the partner cannot claim, for example because they live abroad or are in prison (GOV.UK eligibility).

Deductions, and paying it back from the estate

Before paying, DWP deducts (reg 10(1)):

any assets of the person who died that you or a member of your family can get without probate or letters of administration;
any lump sum due to you or your family on the death from an insurance policy, occupational pension scheme, burial club or similar arrangement;
a funeral grant paid from public funds where the person who died was entitled to a war disablement pension;
sums payable or allowances paid under a pre-paid funeral plan.

Arrears of benefits owed to the person who died, including State Pension, Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Attendance Allowance, PIP and Bereavement Support Payment, are not counted as their assets (reg 10(1A)).

Afterwards, the payment can be recovered "as if [it] were funeral expenses, out of the estate of the deceased, and (subject to section 71 above) by no other means" (Social Security Administration Act 1992 s.78(4); section 71 covers overpayments caused by misrepresentation or failure to disclose). DWP's notes say funeral expenses are paid before anything else from the estate, and that the home occupied by the deceased's partner and personal possessions left to relatives are not counted. In practice that means the payment is not a loan to you: if the estate has money, DWP writes to whoever is handling it. If you are the executor, see our executor's guide.

How to claim

Phone the Bereavement Service helpline on 0800 151 2012 (Welsh 0800 731 0453), Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, or post the SF200 claim form. The adviser can also help you claim other bereavement benefits.
You can claim before the funeral with an invoice or signed contract from the funeral director. An estimate is not enough.
Claim within 6 months of the funeral, even if you are still waiting for a decision on a qualifying benefit.
If you get Universal Credit, you will not get a decision until after your next Universal Credit payment.
If you disagree with the decision you can appeal to the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal.

Source: GOV.UK, make a claim. Not sure whether you are entitled to Universal Credit? Try our Universal Credit calculator.

Other help with funeral costs

Children's Funeral Fund for England. For a child under 18, or a baby stillborn after the 24th week of pregnancy, the fund pays burial or cremation fees (including a doctor's certificate) and up to £300 towards a coffin, shroud or casket. It is not means-tested, the burial or cremation must be in England, and the provider or funeral director usually claims it directly. Other costs can still be claimed through a Funeral Expenses Payment if you qualify (GOV.UK Children's Funeral Fund). If your child died, you may also be entitled to Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay.

If no one can arrange the funeral. A local authority must bury or cremate anyone who died in its area where it appears no suitable arrangements are being made, and it can recover its costs from the estate (Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 s.46(1), (5)).

Bereavement Support Payment is a separate benefit for a surviving spouse or civil partner, and the Bereavement Service adviser can also help with other bereavement benefits. Our guide to money after a bereavement covers it and the other money steps after a death; we do not repeat its figures here. The Bereavement Support Payment calculator works out what a claim would pay.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland. Funeral Support Payment from Social Security Scotland has replaced Funeral Expenses Payment. Its qualifying benefits are listed by mygov.scot as Universal Credit, Income Support, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance and income-related ESA; it covers hydrolysis as well as burial and cremation, and it is usually reasonable for the nearest relative to take responsibility; if you are not the nearest relative you explain why when you apply (mygov.scot). Instead of a capped amount for other costs it pays a fixed £1,327.75, or £162.05 where there is a funeral plan, for applications made from 1 April 2026 (SSI 2026/170 reg 5; mygov.scot amounts). The claim window is the same: until 6 months after the funeral.

Northern Ireland has its own Funeral Expenses Payment from the Social Fund, with its own rules on where the funeral may take place (including the Republic of Ireland in some cases), and a Child Funeral Fund. Claim through nidirect.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the Funeral Expenses Payment?

There is no single amount. It covers necessary burial or cremation fees, certain documents, some transport and one return journey for you, plus up to £1,000 for other funeral expenses such as the funeral director, coffin or flowers (£120 if a pre-paid funeral plan provided items). Money available from the estate, insurance or a funeral plan is deducted. It does not usually cover the whole funeral.

Who qualifies for help paying for a funeral?

In England and Wales you or your partner must get a qualifying benefit such as Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit or income-related ESA, you must meet the rules on your relationship to the person who died, the person who died must have lived in the UK, and the funeral must usually be in the UK.

What is the time limit to claim a Funeral Expenses Payment?

You can claim from the date of death until 6 months after the date of the funeral. You can claim before the funeral if you have an invoice or signed contract from the funeral director, and you should claim within the time limit even if you are still waiting for a decision on a qualifying benefit.

Do I have to pay the Funeral Expenses Payment back?

Not from your own money. DWP can recover it from the estate of the person who died, as a funeral expense, and by no other means except where it was paid because of a misrepresentation or failure to disclose. GOV.UK says the estate does not include a house or personal things left to a widow, widower or surviving civil partner.

Can a son or daughter get a Funeral Expenses Payment for a parent?

Possibly, if the parent had no partner when they died, you get a qualifying benefit and it is reasonable for you to take responsibility. You may not qualify if another son, daughter or parent of the person who died is not on a qualifying benefit and was not estranged from them, unless an exception applies to them.