Funeral Grant declined: how to ask Work and Income for a review

Written by Henry Smith · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Updated 2026-10-20 · Reviewed quarterly, when the underlying data is restated.

Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a trading name.

If Work and Income declines your Funeral Grant application, you can ask for a "review of decision". You must apply within 3 months, and the time can be extended if there is a good reason. Work and Income first looks again itself, and if it does not change the decision a Benefits Review Committee hears the case. A review cannot raise the grant above its $2,697.43 maximum.

A review of decision is the formal way to challenge a Work and Income decision, such as declining a payment or changing its amount (Work and Income: Review of a decision). It is a separate step from the original application. The legal basis is Part 7 of the Social Security Act 2018: section 391 gives the right to seek a review, section 392 sets the 3-month limit, and section 393 sets up the committee (Social Security Act 2018). The funeral grant itself sits in section 90 of the same Act. This page is general information and not legal advice. If the decision is a hard one, Work and Income's page links to a Ministry of Social Development list of free legal and benefit advice services, and you can ask a Community Law centre whether it can help.

The time limit comes first

Section 392 says the application must be made within 3 months after the date of receiving notification of the decision, or within a further period the committee allows. Work and Income's page puts it as "within 3 months of the decision being made". The two can differ by a few days, so count from the earlier date, which is usually the date on the letter. The committee can allow extra time if it considers there is "good and sufficient reason for the delay". Work and Income lists examples that could count, including being unwell, a health condition or stress affecting you, language difficulties, and not having the information you needed. If you are already outside the 3 months, apply anyway and say why you are late.

Why Work and Income declines a Funeral Grant

The grant is not automatic, and a decline will rest on one of the tests in sections 90 to 94 of the Act. Check the decision letter against this list.

Test	What the Act and Work and Income say
Relationship	The person who died was your partner, your parent or guardian, your child under 18, or a single person over 18 whose funeral you are arranging, and they normally lived in New Zealand
The estate	The funeral expenses cannot be paid from the person's assessable estate. If there is a partner or dependent children, the survivor's assets above a set amount also count
Cash and assets	Work and Income counts cash assets, including life insurance proceeds and a prepaid funeral account. The family home, family car and household possessions are generally not counted where a partner or children survive
Income	Tested only if the deceased was your partner or your child. The limits are listed in our funeral grant guide
Other payments	No grant is payable if an ACC funeral grant, a Veterans' lump sum or a War Funeral Grant is payable

Work and Income also says it can pay first and recover later if it cannot confirm income or assets, and that "there is no time limit" to apply for the grant (Work and Income: Funeral Grant and its payment rules).

The steps

Ring Work and Income first. Its own advice is to call to talk through the decision, because it "may be able to fix it over the phone". If a wrong figure or a missing document caused the decline, this is the quickest route.
Apply for the review. Fill in the Review of Decision form or write a letter stating the date you heard of the decision, what it was about and why you disagree. You do not need legal language. You can hand it in at a service centre or post it, and you can have an agent or advocate apply for you.
Wait for the internal review. Work and Income takes another look at the original information. It says it will write within 2 weeks to say whether it has changed the decision.
If it is not changed, the Benefits Review Committee hears it. The committee has two Work and Income staff who were not involved in the internal review and a community representative appointed by the Minister for Social Development. You choose whether the hearing is at the service centre, by video call or by teleconference, and you can bring a support person, advocate or lawyer.
Read the outcome. The committee sends its decision and report about 10 working days after the hearing. If it agrees with you, the service centre puts things right.
If you still disagree, you can appeal. You can appeal to the Social Security Appeal Authority. Under section 400 of the Act the appeal must start within 60 working days of receiving notice of the committee's decision, with extra time possible for good reason. Work and Income says the letter attached to the committee's report explains how to lodge it.

What to have ready

Match your evidence to the test that was used. These are suggestions based on the tests above, not a list Work and Income requires.

The decision letter and the date you received it. Keep the envelope or email if you can.
The itemised funeral account. Work and Income asks for an itemised account when you apply, so a quote or invoice from the funeral director supports any claim about what the funeral cost.
Evidence about the estate. Bank statements or a letter from the bank showing what the deceased held, and a note of any debts. Work and Income's rules refer to the estate before other debts are paid.
Evidence about your own income and assets, if you are the partner or the parent of the person who died.
Anything that was missing or wrong at the time of the decision. If the error was in the information Work and Income held, say exactly which item was wrong.

If the review does not change the outcome

The grant is only one source of money, and the maximum is $2,697.43 as at 1 April 2026. Other routes depend on the circumstances:

If the death was from a covered injury, ACC may pay a funeral grant of up to $8,236.40, and the Work and Income grant is not payable in that case (ACC: Financial support after death). See the ACC survivor's grant.
A council running a cemetery or crematorium may, and on a Justice's order must, bury or cremate a poor person free of charge if the estate is too small and relatives cannot pay (Burial and Cremation Act 1964, section 49). The funeral directors' association says some councils still ask the funeral home to apply to Work and Income first. See council funerals.
Banks can release money from the deceased's account to pay for the funeral without waiting for probate (govt.nz: What to do when someone dies). Our guides on when you cannot afford a funeral and when there is no money in the estate set out the rest.
A funeral director can tell you what a simpler funeral costs, such as a cremation without a service. See funeral costs.

For people planning ahead, note that a prepaid funeral account and life insurance proceeds both count as cash assets when Work and Income assesses the grant. Our page on funeral insurance compared with the Work and Income grant explains how the two interact. The buttons on this page are one route to fixed-benefit cover among several, and it matters only if you are thinking about cover for yourself. Back to the when someone dies hub.

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Adviser's view

A declined Funeral Grant can be challenged, and the time limit is short: 3 months, counted in the Act from when you received the notice, with extra time possible only for a good reason. A decline rests on one of the tests in the Social Security Act 2018 (relationship, estate, assets, income or another payment), so the useful first step is to find out which test applied and whether the figure was right. A review can change a wrong decision. It cannot lift the maximum, which is $2,697.43.

Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). General information, not personalised financial advice.

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). WINZ Funeral Grant Declined: How to Appeal. www.quotehub.co.nz/guides/when-someone-dies/winz-funeral-grant-declined-appeal-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.