Bereavement Benefits

Funeral Payments

If you are arranging the funeral and are claiming social security benefits such as income support, council tax benefit, jobseekers allowance, working families tax credits or disabled person's tax credits you may be entitled to help towards the cost of a simple funeral. This is called a Funeral Payment .

If there is any money in the estate the funeral payment will be repaid from this excluding any personal belongings that have been left.

If you need a cash loan of up to £750 then go to PaydayUK

Bereavement Payment

You may be able to get a one-off, lump-sum, tax-free Bereavement Payment of £2,000 if your husband, wife or civil partner has died and has paid National Insurance contributions (NICs) or if;

• their death was caused by their job.
• you were under State Pension age (60 for women and 65 for men) when they died.
• your husband, wife or civil partner was not entitled to Category A State Retirement Benefit when they died.

When you fill in the claim form you'll be asked to give your late husband, wife or civil partner's National Insurance number and details of their recent employment history. This will allow the office that deals with your claim to look into their National Insurance record and to work out if you qualify for Bereavement Payment.

You can't get Bereavement Payment if any of the following apply:

• you were divorced from your late husband or wife or the civil partnership had dissolved at the time of the civil partner's death.
• you're living with another person as husband, wife or civil partner.
• you're in prison.

The one-off Bereavement Payment does not generally affect your entitlement to other benefits, but your savings and Bereavement Payment may reduce the amount of means-tested benefits you get.

There is a 12 month time limit for claiming Bereavement Payment. You can order a Bereavement Benefits pack over the telephone from your nearest Jobcentre Plus or Social Security Office or Download a Bereavement Benefits pack .

Bereavement Allowance

After you are widowed you may be able to claim Bereavement Allowance, the taxable weekly benefit paid to you for up to 52 weeks from the date of death of your husband, wife or civil partner.

You may be able to claim Bereavement Allowance if all of the following apply: