Cash-strapped son’s anger over ten-week delay to beloved mum’s funeral

Pete Sanderson (pictured) was his mum Brenda’s full-time carer for 17 years — but because he did not claim any means-tested benefits, the Department for Work and Pensions initially told him he did not qualify for a Funeral Expenses Payment. 

Mrs Sanderson (below) died suddenly on December 7 aged 76 — a week after being diagnosed with leukaemia — and her body is still at Rotherham Hospital’s mortuary waiting for the funeral. 

Mr Sanderson (49), of Thorpe Hesley, said he had no way of paying for his mother’s funeral and had only received £12 in Universal Credit this month after deductions were made.

After asking for help from Rotherham Borough Council, he said he was told they no longer covered the costs of so-called “pauper’s funerals”.

“I’ve no idea what I’m going to do,” said Mr Sanderson. “It’s left me feeling suicidal, angry, upset.

“It’s disgraceful that my mother is still up there and I can’t lay her to rest — I can’t start grieving.”

Mr Sanderson turned to Age Concern for help and was redirected back to the DWP in mid-January.

He was then told he could apply for the funeral grant because he had moved on to the means-tested Universal Credit.

After submitting his lengthy application form, the DWP rang two weeks ago asking if he would sign the form to take responsibility for the funeral.

Mr Sanderson said: “I’ve told them I’d ticked the box to say I couldn’t take responsibility for it because I don’t have the money for it.

“They told me they could not process the form until the funeral date had been set — but I can’t set a date until I have paid a funeral director some money, which I don’t have.”

The upset son blasted the system and said he needed to be awarded a payment first as the handful of funeral directors he had contacted needed more than a £1,000 deposit upfront.

But a DWP spokesman said funeral directors were “aware of how these payments are made and we understand that many do not require an upfront deposit”.

When the Advertiser contacted the DWP, a spokesman initially said the funeral grant was only open to people who had been on Universal Credit for at least six months.

He later retracted this statement and said he had been given incorrect information, confirming there was no six-month timescale and Mr Sanderson could apply — but adding that he needed to sign the form to say he would take responsibility, otherwise it could not progress.

Mr Sanderson, who lost his wife a year ago, said he was now in a “stalemate” with the DWP.

“I don’t even know if the DWP will offer me any money,” he added.

“I have a plot of land at Thorpe Hesley Church where my father, George, is buried and all I want to do is lay my mother’s ashes with him.”

Mr Sanderson said he estimated he had saved the DWP £442,000 over the last 17 years by caring for his mum — after she was diagnosed with schizophrenia, bi-polar and heart problems — himself rather than putting her in a home.

He also criticised the Government’s Tell Us Once system — a service that lets people report a death to most Government organisations in one go — adding: “It’s supposed to inform everyone, from the DVLA to the passport authority, but it’s taken me seven weeks to sort out.”