{"id":82258,"date":"2017-07-05T14:56:22","date_gmt":"2017-07-05T14:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=b58b71ef30d6e5f6726a6b9611748381"},"modified":"2017-07-05T14:56:22","modified_gmt":"2017-07-05T14:56:22","slug":"press-release-views-on-proposed-improvements-to-funeral-expenses-payments-sought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=82258","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Views on proposed improvements to Funeral Expenses Payments sought"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>Funeral Payments are available to people who receive certain income-related benefits to help pay for the funeral of an immediate friend or relative.<\/p>\n<p>The government wants to make it clearer who is eligible for a payment and make it easier for people to claim.<\/p>\n<p>Minister for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance Caroline Dinenage said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"last-child\">We understand what a distressing and difficult time it can be losing a loved one and we want to make the process of claiming a Funeral Payment as simple as possible. That\u2019s why we have looked at a number of improvements to the process and are seeking people\u2019s views on those.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The proposals include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>allowing recipients of a Funeral Expenses Payment to receive contributions from relatives, friends or charities without it being deducted from the payment<\/li>\n<li>extending the claim period from 3 to 6 months from the date of the funeral<\/li>\n<li>allowing applicants to submit evidence electronically to speed up the processing of claims and get decisions to claimants sooner<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"more-information\">More information<\/h2>\n<p>Funeral Payments can help pay for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>burial fees and exclusive rights of burial in a particular plot<\/li>\n<li>medical certification fees needed for cremations, including the cost of the doctor\u2019s certificate<\/li>\n<li>travel to arrange or go to the funeral<\/li>\n<li>the cost of moving the body within the UK, if it\u2019s being moved more than 50 miles<\/li>\n<li>death certificates or other documents<\/li>\n<li>up to \u00a3700 for funeral expenses, such as funeral director\u2019s fees, flowers or the coffin<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>People in receipt of the following benefits may be eligible for a Funeral Payment:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Income Support<\/li>\n<li>income-based Jobseekers Allowance<\/li>\n<li>income-based Employment Support Allowance<\/li>\n<li>Pension Credit<\/li>\n<li>Universal Credit<\/li>\n<li>Housing Benefit<\/li>\n<li>Working Tax Credit which includes a disability or severe disability element<\/li>\n<li>Child Tax Credit<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"call-to-action\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/consultations\/reforms-to-the-social-funds-funeral-expenses-payments-scheme\">Provide your views on the Funeral Expenses Payment improvements<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"contact-press-office\">Contact Press Office<\/h2>\n<p>Media enquiries for this press release \u2013 020 3267 5111<\/p>\n<div class=\"contact postal-address\" id=\"contact_827\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h3>Press Office<\/h3>\n<div class=\"vcard contact-inner\">\n<p class=\"adr\">\n<span class=\"street-address\">Caxton House<br \/>\n<br \/>\nTothill Street<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"locality\">London<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"postal-code\">SW1H 9NA<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"email-url-number\">\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">London Press Office (national media and London area enquiries only \u2013 not questions about personal claims)<\/span><br \/>\n              020 3267 5144\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Out-of-hours (journalists only)<\/span><br \/>\n              076 59 108 883\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">England and Wales (local media enquiries)<\/span><br \/>\n              029 20 586 then 097 or 098 or 099\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Scotland (local media enquiries)<\/span><br \/>\n              0131 310 1122\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Follow DWP on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Twitter \u2013 <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/dwppressoffice\">www.twitter.com\/dwppressoffice<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li>Facebook \u2013 <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dwp\">www.facebook.com\/dwp<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li>LinkedIn \u2013 <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dwp\">www.linkedin.com\/company\/dwp<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li>YouTube \u2013 <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/dwp\">www.youtube.com\/dwp<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A consultation on changes to make it easier to claim a Funeral Expenses Payment has opened today (5 July 2017).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82258"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82258\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}