The Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) paid more than 350,000 funeral benefits worth nearly PLN 1.4 billion last year. A funeral benefit is simply reimbursement of funeral costs incurred, that is, costs related to placing a body or ashes in a grave. Which costs are taken into account when ZUS pays a funeral benefit, and which are not reimbursed under the benefit?
“This principle also applies when the funeral costs are covered by someone other than a family member, that is, an unrelated person, such as a neighbour. If the costs are covered by more than one person or entity, the funeral benefit is divided among those persons or entities in proportion to the funeral costs incurred,” says Iwona Kowalska-Matis, Regional Press Spokesperson for ZUS in Lower Silesia. “To receive a funeral benefit from ZUS, unrelated persons must document in detail the expenses incurred, up to the benefit amount. Unfortunately, no law specifies which costs should be considered funeral costs. Therefore, it is assumed that the funeral itself comprises the activities taking place from the time of death until the deceased’s remains are buried,” Kowalska-Matis explains.
The Sacrum funeral home also provides information about the funeral benefit on its website.
There are sometimes doubts as to whether, for example, buying only a coffin is sufficient to prove funeral costs. Will expenses incurred for the funeral ceremony be included in the amount of the benefit paid by ZUS? Finally, can expenses related to erecting a gravestone be included among funeral costs?
“Submitting a bill for the coffin alone does not constitute proof that the funeral costs were covered. This is because there is a presumption that someone else incurred the remaining costs and will also apply for a funeral benefit. In such a case, the benefit is paid proportionally, and therefore the Institution must establish all the circumstances. It should also be added that buying flowers alone does not constitute a funeral cost; otherwise, every mourner would acquire the right to a funeral benefit proportional to their expenses,” the spokesperson adds.
As for a church ceremony, expenses related to it and confirmed by a church institution are fully taken into account in the benefit paid by ZUS. Expenses incurred to erect a gravestone are a different matter. Since purchasing it is not directly connected with burying the deceased, it is not considered when determining the amount of the funeral benefit. After all, the absence of a gravestone does not mean that the funeral did not take place. A gravestone may even be erected several years after the burial.
Who is entitled to the benefit?
A funeral benefit is payable in the event of the death of: a person with an established entitlement to a pension or disability pension; a person with an established entitlement to a bridging pension; an insured person, including a person insured because they receive a maternity benefit or a benefit equal to a maternity benefit for the period after the insurance title has ended; a person with an established entitlement to a teachers’ compensatory benefit; a person who died while receiving sickness benefit or a rehabilitation benefit for the period after the insurance title had ended; or a family member of a disability or old-age pensioner.
Limitation period for claims for payment of the benefit
The right to a funeral benefit expires if an application for it is not submitted within 12 months of the date of death of the person in respect of whom the benefit is payable. If it was not possible to submit the application for a funeral benefit within that period because the remains were found later, the deceased was identified later, or for other reasons entirely beyond the entitled person’s control, the right to the benefit expires 12 months after the date of the funeral. These circumstances must be confirmed by a certificate from the police or prosecutor’s office, a full copy of the death certificate, or another official document confirming the reasons that made it impossible to submit the application.
Required documents
The basic documents required for payment of a funeral benefit are: an application for payment of the funeral benefit; an abridged copy of the death certificate or a full copy of a child’s birth certificate with a note that the child was stillborn; original bills for funeral costs incurred, or, if the originals have been submitted to a bank, copies of the bills certified by the bank as true to the originals; documents confirming the applicant’s relationship or affinity with the deceased person (abridged copies of civil-status records or an identity card containing the required information); and a certificate from the contribution payer confirming that the person was covered by insurance on the date of death (if the deceased was an insured person or a family member of an insured person). This does not apply to self-employed persons or people working with them.
Payment of the benefit in the event of death outside the country
EU regulations stipulate that if an employed person, a self-employed person or a member of their family dies in the territory of a Member State other than the competent state, the death is deemed to have occurred in the territory of the latter state. The competent institution is obliged to award funeral benefits due under the legislation it applies, even if the beneficiary resides in the territory of a Member State other than the competent state. To receive a funeral benefit under the legislation of a Member State other than the one in which the applicant resides, an application must be submitted either to the competent institution or to the institution in the applicant’s place of residence. The application must be accompanied by the documents required under the legislation applied by the competent institution—the institution to which the application is submitted. Under the general principle of non-cumulation of benefits, a funeral benefit is received in only one country. It is therefore not possible to apply for it both in the country where, for example, one works and in Poland.