In brief

• Funeral homes will be able to file death benefit applications for clients online from January.
• The new platform is meant to reduce paperwork and make the work of funeral providers easier.
• The 7,000 zloty benefit reportedly does not fully cover funeral costs in large cities.

Online filing for funeral homes

From the start of next year, funeral homes will be allowed to submit applications for funeral benefits on behalf of their clients through a special online platform (Cyfrowy przełom w zasiłkach pogrzebowych. Od stycznia wnioski poprowadzą domy pogrzebowe online – wiescirolnicze.pl) (Od stycznia zakłady pogrzebowe będą składać online dokumenty dot. zasiłków pogrzebowych – radiokielce.pl) (Zmiany w zasiłkach pogrzebowych od stycznia. Ułatwienie dla zakładów pogrzebowych – Business Insider Polska). Dariusz Dutkiewicz, director of the Institute of the Funeral and Cemetery Industry (IBPC), said the change would make the work considerably easier for funeral providers.

Digital process replaces paper

The move is part of a broader digitisation of benefit procedures handled by ZUS, Poland's Social Insurance Institution. Until now, the process has relied largely on paper documents, which funeral homes have had to prepare and deliver for each family they serve. Under the new system, the applications are filed electronically through the platform, reducing the need for in-person submissions.

Context for the industry

The death benefit itself has risen to 7,000 zloty, but reports note that this amount does not fully cover the growing cost of funerals in large cities. The sector is also changing in other ways, with urn burials becoming more common than traditional interments and fewer coffins being produced. Cemetery regulations still rest on rules dating back to the interwar period and the communist era, according to the same reporting.

What happens next

The platform is scheduled to open to funeral homes in January. Until then, the existing procedures remain in place.