Paying for the Funeral

Pay for Your funeral with Lodge Brothers

There are several different options to pay for your funeral with Lodge Brothers – we will provide you with a fully itemised estimate beforehand. The third-party fees & disbursements will need to be paid within 48 hours of the arrangements being confirmed, and the final funeral account invoice must be settled within 30 days of the funeral taking place. However, if you reside outside the UK we will require full payment in advance of the funeral.

We do appreciate that funerals can be expensive and present very real difficulties to families who have not made prior provision for such expenses – we have therefore provided as many payment options as possible:

1. By cash or by cheque

2. By debit or credit card

3. By bank transfer

4. Payment from the deceased’s bank account

If there are sufficient funds within the deceased’s bank account, then all payments can be made directly. The benefit of paying via this method is that all such costs are removed from the estate for inheritance tax purposes. Should there not be sufficient funds and a property is required to be sold, then Probate will be required – you can call the Lodge Brothers Legal Services helpline for assistance. In this case, our recommendation would be that you finance the funeral cost via option 6, and when the estate is settled the finance agreement can be paid off.

5. Assistance from the Department of Work and Pensions

You may seek assistance from the Department of Work and Pensions to help pay for a funeral.

How it works

You may seek assistance form the Department of Work and Pensions to help pay for a funeral. The Department of Work and Pensions will provide a maximum of £1000 for the funeral director’s fee and in addition a contribution to the disbursements (fees Lodge Brothers pays on your behalf i.e. crematorium fees).

Funeral Expenses Payment can help to pay for some of the costs of the following:

Burial fees for a particular plot
Cremation fees, including the cost of the doctor’s certificate
Travel to arrange or go to the funeral
The cost of moving the body within the UK, if it’s being moved more than 50 miles
Death certificates or other documents

You can also get up to £1000 for any other funeral expenses, such as funeral director’s fees, flowers or the coffin.

The payment will not usually cover all of the costs of the funeral. How much you get depends on your circumstances. This includes any other money that’s available to cover the costs, for example from an insurance policy or the deceased’s estate.

How it works

You can get help towards the cost of a funeral if you or your partner are getting one of the following qualifying benefits:

1. Universal Credit
2. Income Support
3. Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
4. Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
5. Pension Credit
6. Housing Benefit
7. The disability or severe disability element of Working Tax Credit
8. Child Tax Credit
9. Support for Mortgage Interest loan

Midsection of woman holding white flowers at home

You can also apply if you or your partner are waiting to hear about a claim for one of these benefits or payments. We use partner to mean:

1. A person you live with who is your husband, wife or civil partner, or
2. A person you live with as if you are a married couple

You must meet the following criteria:

1. You or your partner arranged the funeral in the United Kingdom (UK), and the adult who died had their main home in the UK when they died (by United Kingdom (UK) we mean England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)
2. You or your partner arranged the funeral and you have claimed within 6 months of the date of the funeral

You may also be able to get help towards the cost of a funeral if you or your partner arranged the funeral in the European Economic Area or Switzerland. The European Economic Area countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

Apply for assistance

If you think you qualify and want to make an application – please complete the relevant form:

Adult Funeral

Child Funeral

You must inform Lodge Brothers that you wish to make a claim – if you do not this may lead to a postponement of the funeral.

Call the government’s bereavement service helpline on 0345 606 0265, or visit their website gov.uk/funeral-payments – to find out how to get help with funeral payments and if you’re entitled to any help.

6. Funeral Finance

Funeral finance is available via an agreement with FCA regulated provider Funeral Safe Funeral Finance – Lodge Brothers Funeral Directors are appointed representatives of Funeral Safe Ltd, independent Funeral Finance Lenders.

How it works

3 simple steps to apply for your finance through Lodge Brothers Funeral Directors – the finance is not with us. We act as an agent for Funeral Safe.

1. You can apply when arranging the funeral with Lodge Brothers. Just ask our arranger for finance options and they will give you the contact details for Funeral Safe.
2. Upon a successful application you will receive a text message and email containing your loan agreement. If you are happy with everything in the loan agreement you can accept it via the link in the email.
3. Once you have accepted the agreement we are notified and all that you need do then is make the payments of the loan.

Apply Online

Funeral Safe will provide you with a personal account login to manage your finance. Furthermore, they are available to offer any support you may need in regard to the finance and its repayments.

Our funeral finance agreement is very flexible and transparent – should you wish to settle the balance earlier than the agreement states you can do so without penalty and the interest charge will be adjusted to match the payment period.

Apply Online