For Information on
The SAIF National Bereavement Awareness Day
click on the appropriate button

SAIF has become aware of a major problem caused to both the funeral director and also bereaved families by the current reorganisation of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). It appears that a programme of regionalisation is underway where decisions on claims and payment of benefits is being moved away from local offices to centralised offices. This coupled with a rise in the number of benefit claimants due to massively increased immigration in recent years means that a backlog of claims is being caused. We understand that in some areas there is already a backlog of some five weeks and this is a relatively quiet period for funeral directors. The situation is only likely to get worse in the winter months when the number of deaths traditionally increases.

‘This is causing our members considerable cash flow difficulties and to make matters worse people on benefits organising funerals will have no idea of what they can afford to order on behalf of their lost loved one at the time arrangements are made. One could be cynical and say that there are no votes in the dead’ said Mervyn Pilley SAIF Chief Executive Officer.

SAIF has been campaigning for the whole social fund funeral payment scheme to be overhauled but the Minister - James Plaskitt MP who interestingly has just been awarded ‘Parliamentarian of the Year’ by another Funeral Organisation, has been citing the need for a review for the last two years. It is clear from what is going on at the moment that all the Department is interested in is cutting budgets and delaying the process of paying out benefits for as long as possible. This, in our opinion, coupled with the increasingly aggressive approach of DWP officers to try and find monies that relatives of claimants may or may not have is insensitive and inappropriate when dealing with the deceased. If no one else is prepared to stand up for the dead our members certainly are.

Back to headlines