×
Plan Now, Pay LaterSecure your plan today, don't pay until 9 January 2026. T&Cs apply, click here for details.
Two Together: Save £100!Save £100 when you purchase two funeral plans together. Call us for more details.
Written by Adam McIlroy.
12 minute read
Article reviewed by James Daley, Managing Director at Fairer Finance on May 28, 2025.
The cost of dying in the UK can be high and it’s only increasing. Alongside the emotional and practical challenges of losing someone close, many families are left wondering how to pay for a funeral, especially when the need arises suddenly or unexpectedly. In this article, we’ll guide you through how to apply for a government funeral grant and explore what financial support may be available.
Before we get started, we’d just like to say that, whatever has brought you here, we are here to help. It could be that you are starting to think about your own future funeral, and you are looking to get things sorted. It could also be that you have very recently lost someone, and you think you might need some financial support in order to pay for their funeral. Whether your needs are long or short-term, Aura’s funeral services are available to you in the shape of our direct cremations for today, and our prepaid funeral plans for tomorrow.
Key Takeaways
If you’re looking into applying for a funeral grant, you may also be wondering what it is, and who is eligible.
As we know, funeral expenses are rising in the UK, and they have been for some time. According to SunLife in their latest Cost of Dying Report, last year’s average traditional funeral cost was £4,285. Not only that — they say that over the last 21 years, funeral prices have risen by 134%, whereas, if they’d only risen at the normal rate of consumer inflation, they would only have increased by ~75%.
As such, people are looking for ways to keep funeral costs down, and, in some cases, for financial support with paying for them. The UK Government (through the DWP), as well as some of the devolved powers, have various support schemes in place which people can apply to. The first one is the Funeral Expenses Payment, and the other one is the Bereavement Support Payment. If successful in your application, these grants can be used to contribute towards the funeral costs you need to pay.
Both of these grants have an eligibility criteria, and are not necessarily available to everyone.
Funeral Support Payment
For the Funeral Expenses Payment through the DWP, the criteria are as follows:
You must already be claiming one of the following forms of benefit:
Furthermore, you may be eligible for the Funeral Expenses Payment if you are:
In Scotland, the equivalent payment is called the Funeral Support Payment. If someone in Scotland has already received the Funeral Expenses Payment from the UK government, they will not be eligible for this one, therefore they’ll need to pick which one to apply for.
Bereavement Support Payment
The Bereavement Support Payment is not means tested, which means everyone is eligible so long as certain criteria are met.
When your partner died, you must have been:
Your partner must have either:
When thinking about what bereavement support is available to you, you will need to weigh up these eligibility criteria.
When you are applying for a funeral grant, you will need to consider the application process, as well as the processing time and the likely grant amount.
There are slightly different application processes for each support payment. For the Funeral Expenses Payment, you’ll need to gather together all of the relevant documentation. This will be a mix of official documents, such as their Death Certificate, as well as proof of the benefits you are receiving. You will also need to provide evidence of the funeral costs. If the funeral has happened, then an invoice from the funeral director or final bill could work, but if you didn’t use a funeral director, then you will need to submit individual bills and receipts for the different elements of the funeral you have paid for.
However, if the funeral hasn’t yet happened, then you will need to submit a signed contract in order to apply; the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can’t accept provisional bills or cost estimates.
In order to apply for the Bereavement Support Payment, you can head to the UK government website. It should take around 15 minutes to apply, and it can be done online, or over the phone. In order to apply, you will need the following information:
You might also need to show how you related to the person who has died, as well as documents like their Death Certificate too.
The processing time for each type of support payment can vary. For the Funeral Support Payment, the DWP will aim to process your claim within 13 days of applying. For the Bereavement Support Payment, the government will try to process your claim within a few weeks. In order to get the full amount, you should apply within three months of your partner’s death.
According to the UK government website, through the Funeral Expenses Payment you could receive a money towards the following:
Please bear in mind that, if the person who died had a funeral plan, you can only get up to £120 to help pay for items not covered by their plan. With the Bereavement Support Payment, however, the most you can get is £3,500 in a one-off payment, or 18 monthly instalments of £350.
If you are ineligible for either the Funeral Expenses Payment or the Bereavement Support Payment, there are other ways of paying for a funeral.
You may be able to apply for something called a Budgeting Loan from the UK Government, which could allow you to borrow money from the government with zero interest, and spread the repayments over a number of months. Head to the UK Government website for more information on this.
Aside from government support, you may be eligible for charitable support to help you with funeral costs. Organisations like Quaker Social Action or Cruse Bereavement Support can signpost you towards helpful resources, and may even be able to cover certain costs for you.
Others find that crowdfunding is helpful. You can go to websites like GoFundMe or JustGiving to start a fundraising campaign, where you can share some information about the funeral and the person who has died. Then you can share links to the posts online if you are announcing a death on social media, for example. This can help you to easily share the information among affected people who knew the person who died. You may find that people will be very willing to help and contribute in any way they can.
When applying for a funeral grant from the government, you may find that your application has been rejected. In this case, you will need to understand the reasons for your funeral grant rejection, and, where appropriate, you may wish to appeal them.
It might be that your application was incomplete and that you didn’t submit enough documentation along with it. It could also be the case that there is someone else who was closer to the person who has died who might be a better candidate for paying for the funeral. It could also be the case that you don’t currently receive one of the qualifying benefits. If the government rejects your application, they will send you a letter explaining the reason.
If you want to appeal the government’s decision on your application for a funeral grant, you can do so in certain circumstances. You can seek free help from the Citizens Advice Bureau and other organisations if you’d like support in putting your appeal together.
Thank you for reading this article about applying for a funeral grant; we hope you have found it useful. Funeral costs can add a great deal of stress to families at an already-stressful time. Understanding the process for applying for support can therefore be useful.
Aura is a family-run company, set up by Paul Jameson back in 2019 following his diagnosis with motor neurone disease. He runs the company today alongside his son, David (our CEO) and a family friend called Ben (our COO) with one mission in mind: to provide families across Great Britain with compassionate, low-cost funeral care. The father–son partnership of Paul and Dave means that we all strive to offer only the level of care that they’d expect for themselves and their own family. Our industry-leading Aura Angels offer their compassionate and knowledgeable care to every family, whether for funerals in the here and now or in the future. In fact, it’s thanks to them that we are the top-rated ‘Cremation Services’ provider on Trustpilot, with a score of 4.9/5 stars.
If you’d like to see whether we’re the right fit for your immediate funeral needs, our compassionate Aura Angels are available by calling the number below.
A funeral grant is financial support from the UK government to help cover the cost of a funeral. The two main grants available are the Funeral Expenses Payment and the Bereavement Support Payment.
You must be receiving certain benefits such as Universal Credit, Income Support, or Housing Benefit. You also need to be closely related to the person who has died, such as their partner or parent.
This grant is for people under State Pension age who were married to or living with their partner at the time of their death. Your partner must have paid sufficient National Insurance or died due to work-related causes.
For the Funeral Expenses Payment, you’ll need documentation like the Death Certificate, benefit details, and funeral invoices or contracts. For the Bereavement Support Payment, you can apply online or by phone with national insurance numbers and bank details.
Funeral Expenses Payment applications are typically processed within 13 days. The Bereavement Support Payment may take a few weeks. Apply within three months of the death to get the full Bereavement Support Payment.
You may get help with burial or cremation fees, transport, and up to £1,000 for funeral-related expenses. The Bereavement Support Payment offers either a one-time payment of up to £3,500 or monthly payments of £350 for 18 months.
The government will send a letter explaining the reason. You may appeal the decision if you believe it was unfair or made in error. You can also seek support from organisations like Citizens Advice.
Other options include interest-free Budgeting Loans, charitable grants, and crowdfunding through websites like GoFundMe or JustGiving. Local charities and bereavement organisations may also be able to offer support.