Help paying for a funeral: every UK scheme explained

A funeral can be one of the largest bills a family ever faces, and it often arrives when money is already stretched. There is more help available than many people realise, from government payments to support from the estate and charities. This guide sets out every main scheme across the UK, who can get it and how to claim.

Key points

• The Funeral Expenses Payment (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) covers burial or cremation fees plus up to £1,000 for other costs. You need to get a qualifying benefit.
• Scotland’s Funeral Support Payment covers burial, cremation or hydrolysis costs plus currently £1,327.75 for other costs. This amount is uprated each April.
• Claims for both must be made within six months of the funeral.
• Children’s funerals have separate help in all four nations, and none of it is means-tested.
• Banks will usually release money from the deceased’s account to pay a funeral invoice before probate.
• If no one can arrange or pay for a funeral, the council must arrange a public health funeral.

Help at a glance: every scheme by nation

Funeral Expenses Payment (England and Wales)

The Funeral Expenses Payment is run by the Department for Work and Pensions. You may qualify if you or your partner get:

• Universal Credit
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Housing Benefit.

You may also qualify if you get a Support for Mortgage Interest loan. You can apply while you are waiting for a decision on one of these benefits.

Relationship rules. You can usually claim if you were the person’s partner, or the parent of a stillborn baby or of a child who died. A close relative or close friend can claim if there was no partner, or if the partner can’t claim. You may not get a payment if another close relative, such as a sibling, is in work or does not get a qualifying benefit. The funeral must take place in the UK, the European Economic Area or Switzerland.

What it covers:

• burial fees for a plot and interment, or cremation fees
• travel to arrange or attend the funeral
• moving the body within the UK if it is more than 50 miles
• death certificates and other documents
• up to £1,000 for other costs, such as the funeral director’s fees, the coffin or flowers.

If the person had a prepaid funeral plan, you can only get up to £120 for items the plan doesn’t cover.

Good to know. The payment is recovered from the estate of the person who died, if there is money available. It is reduced by any money you can get from the estate or from insurance. SunLife’s 2026 research found that, on average, the payment covered around half (48%) of the total funeral cost. So it helps to keep the funeral simple and to compare prices.

Funeral Expenses Payment (Northern Ireland)

Northern Ireland has its own Funeral Expenses Payment with similar benefit and relationship rules, and the same up to £1,000 for other costs. It can also cover a funeral in the Republic of Ireland if the person normally lived in Northern Ireland. Claim within six months of the funeral by calling the Bereavement Service on 0800 085 2463, or by using the form on nidirect.

Funeral Support Payment (Scotland)

In Scotland, the Funeral Support Payment replaced the Funeral Expenses Payment. It is run by Social Security Scotland. You must live in Scotland, and you or your partner must get one of these:

• Universal Credit
• Income Support
• Pension Credit
• Housing Benefit
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance.

Usually the nearest relative is expected to take responsibility. If you are not the nearest relative, you will be asked to explain why you are arranging the funeral. The payment covers:

• burial, cremation or hydrolysis (water cremation) costs
• some travel to arrange or attend the funeral
• moving the body more than 49.7 miles within the UK
• certificates and some medical costs, such as removing a pacemaker
• currently £1,327.75 for other funeral costs, or £162.05 if there is a funeral plan. These amounts are uprated each April.

mygov.scot says the average payment is about £2,065. You can apply any time from the death until six months after the funeral, by calling 0800 182 2222, online or on a paper form. The money can be paid to you or to the funeral director.

Help with children’s funerals

Losing a child is devastating, and every UK nation has help that does not depend on income (see the table above). In England, the Children’s Funeral Fund pays the fees directly, so families are not charged. In Wales, the registrar offers the £500 payment at registration. In Scotland, council burial and cremation are usually free for under-18s and stillborn babies. In Northern Ireland, the Child Funeral Fund pays £3,441. Some funeral directors also reduce or waive their own charges for children, so it is worth asking. See our guide to a funeral for a baby or child.

Bereavement Support Payment

If your husband, wife, civil partner or, in some circumstances, cohabiting partner died while you were under State Pension age, you may get Bereavement Support Payment. The higher rate (£3,500 plus 18 monthly payments of £350) applies if you get Child Benefit or were pregnant. Otherwise the standard rate is £2,500 plus 18 payments of £100. It is not means-tested, and many families use it towards the funeral. Claim within three months of the death to get the full amount.

Paying from the estate

If the person who died left money, the funeral can normally be paid for from their estate. Reasonable funeral costs are paid before most other debts.

• Banks and building societies. Most will pay a funeral director’s invoice directly from the deceased’s account before probate is granted (or confirmation in Scotland). You will usually need the itemised invoice and a copy of the death certificate. They are not obliged to do this, so contact them early. Each bank sets its own rules — this guide to bank accounts after a death explains what usually happens to sole and joint accounts.
• Insurance and pensions. Check for life insurance, an over-50s policy, a workplace death-in-service benefit or a pension lump sum. Some can be paid quickly to help with funeral costs.
• Funeral plans. Look through the person’s paperwork for a prepaid plan. See our guide to funeral plans.

If you pay upfront yourself, keep every receipt so you can be repaid from the estate. Our guide do I need probate? explains the next steps.

Paying the funeral director in instalments

Many funeral directors will agree a payment plan. SunLife’s 2026 report found that 24% of families now pay in instalments, up from 19%. Get the full terms in writing, including any interest, fees and what happens if you miss a payment, and avoid high-cost credit if you can.

Other sources of help

• Quaker Social Action’s Down to Earth service gives free, confidential advice to people on low incomes who are struggling to pay for a funeral anywhere in the UK. It offers one-to-one support before the funeral takes place.
• Employers, trade unions, professional bodies and armed forces charities sometimes help members’ families.
• Crowdfunding from friends and your community is another option some families use.
• Keeping costs down, for example with a direct cremation and your own memorial, can close the gap between the help available and the bill.

If no one can pay

If there is no one able or willing to arrange a funeral, the local council has a legal duty to arrange a simple one. This is known as a public health funeral. Contact the council before you instruct a funeral director, because many councils won’t step in once arrangements have started. See our public health funerals guide.

Where to get help

• Check what you could get with our help with funeral costs tool.
• Compare prices with our funeral director directory and funeral cost calculator.
• Read funeral costs in the UK for average prices and money-saving ideas.
• Start at the beginning with what to do when someone dies.