A destitute widow must find £1,300 for her husband's funeral after the Benefits Agency refused to stump up the cash.

The agency turned down Jacqueline Harvey's plea to pay for her husband's funeral because he had saved a meagre £400 for Christmas before his sudden death in November.

Grief-stricken Mrs Harvey, 49, from York Road, Southend, claims the Benefits Agency said it would not even meet the £900 balance of the funeral cost because her late husband, Thomas, had saved a few pounds in the bank.

Her friend Roy Lewis, who used to care for disabled Mr Harvey before he died, said his widow was at her wit's end about what to do.

He said: "The funeral cost more than £1,000, and she got a bill in, so she put in for a funeral payment from the social.

"They wrote back and said that because she had £400 in the building society, they would not pay a penny."

Mrs Harvey was too upset to talk about the matter.

Mr Lewis said two subsequent appeals had been turned down because of the savings, even though Mrs Harvey had provided a relevant bank statement proving there was no more money.

Benefits Agency spokesman Angela Tudder said she could not comment on individual cases.

However, she stressed all claims for money from the social fund must be backed up by evidence.

She said: "When somebody, or the next of kin, makes a claim for funeral payments, they have to satisfy certain criteria.

"They also have to provide any evidence as available of the deceased and any insurance policies.

"They must provide us with evidence of savings."

Heartbroken - widow Jacqueline Harvey, left, reads letters from the Benefits Agency

Picture: STEPHEN LLOYD

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