THE current financial turmoil is hitting even the dead.

Funeral directors in Britain revealed that the burial of 'hundreds' of bodies is being delayed for financial reasons, reported The Daily Mail.

Hard-up families are reportedly being forced to wait more than two months to receive government money for funerals.

The payouts come from the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) Social Fund, which helps needy families with burial costs.

Such families can receive funeral costs up to a maximum of ?700 ($1,770) plus additional sums averaging around ?1,000. About 27,000 people - accounting for ?46million - claim for burials every year.

This year, though, organisations representing undertakers have accused the UK government of putting them in an 'impossible' position by dragging their feet over burial costs for poor families.

Mr John Weir, of the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors, said bodies were normally buried about 10 days after death, but because of the payment delays, it now takes 'more like five weeks and sometimes longer'.

In needy cases, undertakers typically pay for the funerals and wait to be reimbursed by the government.

But Mr Weir said: 'In these economic conditions, many directors now look to get payment in advance. The (delays) and hardship it is causing both families and funeral directors is very real.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on October 13, 2008.