Funeral Poverty Bill On the 9th December 2014 a Funeral Poverty Bill was presented to parliament and to take an effective way of ensuring people do not experience poverty as the result of the loss of a loved one. As a local organisation who works very closely with bereaved families across the County, we fully support this Bill and hope that as many local people contact both their current MPs and election candidates to support this bill so that it becomes Law so that local families are not driven into debt when arranging a loved one’s funeral Whilst the DWP does give grants towards the cost of a funeral, for many people this no longer covers the full cost of a funeral and families are left having to search for monies – more often when someone younger dies or when an older person passes away leaving no funding for funeral care. Everyone has the right to have a decent send-off, but funerals are becoming less and less affordable with each passing year, there needs to be some regulation of the funeral business whereas affordable funerals are available to all people and that people on low incomes are treated with the same respect and dignity as those with money. At the moment, families can apply for a payment to help with the cost of paying for a service but the process takes several weeks and, by the time most people find out if they qualify for help, they have already committed to costs. The new Bill would introduce a new check to let people know whether they are eligible for funeral payments quickly by requiring funeral directors to provide a ‘simple funeral’ option to help customers understand what they can expect to pay for a standard service. In addition, the Bill calls for a major review of funeral affordability to look at ways the rising cost of funerals can be brought under control. Whilst some of the local independent funeral directors have signed up to a fair price charter for funerals – some people have to find several thousands of pounds to pay for the simplest of options and this needs to end. “With the ageing population, the increasing number of younger death, rising funeral costs and the squeeze on incomes, this problem is set to get a lot worse. The Government need to tackle funeral poverty before it becomes a national scandal. “ Please contact your local MPs now and help make a difference and make funeral pricing fairer and affordable
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 12:18:42 +0000
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