Paying for a Funeral

When you purchase a Funeral from Variety Funerals™ for a person that has passed away, payment in full is required before the cremation can take place. £300 is payable to appoint Variety Funerals™, the balance due is to be paid within 7 days thereafter.

Credit or Debit Card

The most popular choice is to pay by credit or debit card (Visa or MasterCard). Your purchase is protected and we do not store your card details. Currently, we do not accept American Express.

Bank Transfer

Your Variety Funerals™ invoice includes our bank details if you wish to pay by bank transfer. The majority of UK banks provide online banking that support same day ‘faster’ payments.

Deceased Bank Account

Funeral costs are not part of probate which is why the deceased bank account can be used to pay for their funeral. You can use the debit card of the deceased or if the account has been frozen you can take your Variety Funerals™ invoice to a branch of the deceased’s bank and the bank will pay the Variety Funerals™ invoice directly to Variety Funerals™ (providing there are sufficient funds in the account). Some banks will also allow you to send the Variety Funerals™ invoice by post or email to them.

Insurance

When the deceased has an insurance policy in place please contact their insurance company to find out what their procedure is for you to claim. Typically you will need to fill out a form and provide the insurance company with a death certificate and Variety Funerals™ invoice.

The insurance company will pay Variety Funerals™ directly or pay the beneficiary of the policy to then pay Variety Funerals™ instead.

Funeral Finance

Funeral Safe is a finance company that specialise in providing finance for funerals.

Funeral Safe Limited provides finance from £499 – £7,500 from 10.75% to 24.9% APR over terms of 12 – 60 months.

All loan agreements are subject to status, terms and conditions as set out in the financial conduct authority and credit consumer association guidelines. Loan agreements are only valid once permission has been granted via signature or e-signature.

Funeral Safe pay Variety Funerals™ directly.

Visit Funeral Safe

Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)

It is the circumstances of the person paying for the funeral and NOT that of the deceased that determines the eligibility for a funeral expenses payment to be claimed from the DWP.

You can get up to £1,000 towards Variety Funerals™ fees, in addition to payment of the cremation fees and doctors fees.

The Funeral Expenses Payment is paid into your bank, building society or credit union account if you’ve already paid Variety Funerals™.

The money will be paid directly to Variety Funerals™ if you have not paid Variety Funerals™.

You might be able to get a Funeral Expenses Payment if you are the partner of the deceased.

You might be able to get a Funeral Expenses Payment if the deceased did not have a partner when they died and you are a close friend or relative.

If a close relative of the deceased (such as a sibling or parent) is in work or not getting a qualifying benefit, you might not get a Funeral Expenses Payment

Benefits you must get:

You (or your partner) must get one or more of the following:

• Universal Credit
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Housing Benefit
• The disability or severe disability element of Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit

For further information contact the DWP Bereavement Service by telephone: 0800 151 2012 (or 0800 731 0453 for a Welsh language service). The helpline is open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. More information can be found on the government website.

Visit Funeral Expenses Payment

Crowd Funding

There are a number of websites where you can set up a crowd funding page to raise money for a funeral including gofundme.com and justgiving.com.

Typically crowd funding websites will pay the money directly to you for you to pay Variety Funerals™.

Charities

Funeral costs can present families with unexpected bills they may not have had time to budget for. There a number of charities and grants available to support families to help pay for funeral costs.

Turn2us

Turn2us is a national charity providing practical help to people who are struggling financially. Turn2us provides a grant search facility.

Visit Search for Grants

Friends of the Elderly (FOTE)

Friends of the Elderly provides grants to older people over State Pension age, living in England or Wales, who have a low income and savings of less than £4,000.

Visit Friends of the Elderly

Paying for a Pre-paid Funeral Plan

A Variety pre-paid funeral plan is paid for in one payment.

View Pre-paid Funeral Plans