05 Nov 2019
DWP confirms Social Fund ‘other funeral expenses’ payment increase to £1,000
The NAFD has welcomed today’s (5 November 2019) news from the Department for Work and Pensions that it has decided to increase the Social Fund “Other Funeral Expenses” payment from £700 to £1,000.
We now await further details of the increase, which will come into force in Spring 2020, to ensure that it represents genuine additional support for bereaved people.
£1,000 is unlikely to completely cover the shortfall in the average cost of a simple funeral. However, this is the first increase in the payment since 2003 and is something the NAFD has campaigned for over many years. It is therefore an important step towards ensuring that the Social Fund funeral payment is fit-for-purpose and the news comes alongside other recently announced improvements, such as the way the benefit is applied for and how the payment is processed.
The NAFD would still like to see better signposting to the benefit to ensure all those who need it are aware of it, and improvements to eligibility checks so that the unacceptably high rate of refusal can be reduced. Last year, more than half of the 40,000 people who applied for a funeral payment were rejected, leaving thousands of families – and funeral directors – in limbo over funeral arrangements.
The Association is also pressing for news of comparable changes to the scheme in Northern Ireland.
Click here to read the statement on the DWP website.
Further reading
Our funeral advice section.