We have put together a few points we feel are important for people to take note of when filling in the form.

• You must be in receipt of state benefit whether it is child tax credit, jobseekers allowance, income support, pension credit, housing benefit, working tax credit or council tax benefit.
• You must have arranged the funeral in the UK and the person who died was a resident of the UK.
• Your partner in all cases is the person you are married to or someone who lives with you as if you were married or in a civil partnership.
• If the responsibility to pay for the funeral does not automatically fall on you and there are other eligible parties that are not in receipt of any benefit then your claim may not be accepted.
• You must claim within three months of the funeral.
• You need to have a copy of the final funeral directors bill and the method of payment form to send along with the form – MW Funeral Directors can provide you with this.
• The maximum amount available is £700.
• When the amount available to you is calculated, any other funds will also be taken into account that could be used to pay for the funeral from the estate of the person who has passed away. This could be from bank or building societies, post office accounts or insurance policies.
• Lump sums from several named charities will not be taken into account.
• Payment will normally be made straight to the funeral director. However, if this amount has already been paid, the payment will go to you.
• Please tell the funeral director you are making a claim.
• If you have a bill for something which has not been paid by the funeral director then you can still claim, provided the full amount available to you has not been used by the funeral director.