Jason Explains What the Bereavement Support Payment Is and How to Claim It - With Esther Shaw at The Daily Telegraph
The original article was published in Telegraph Money on 25th June 2024, but is only available to Daily Telegraph subscribers. As part of our mission to empower as many people as possible to make better financial decisions, we have published below all the information Jason shared with them, so you get the maximum benefit from it (not just from what was published).
WHAT IS IT?
It’s a payment that you may be entitled to if your partner has died. It has replaced the Widowed Parent’s Allowance, Bereavement Allowance (previously Widow’s Pension) and the Bereavement Payment.
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible, when your partner died you must have been:
under State Pension age
living in the UK or a country that pays bereavement benefits
married to your partner, in a civil partnership with them, or living with them as if you were married
Also, your partner will have needed to have paid National Insurance contributions for at least 25 weeks in any single tax year since 1975. If you are unsure, you can still submit a claim and the DWP’s Bereavement Service will be able to tell you.
It is not a means tested benefit, so your financial position has no impact on what you might get.
HOW TO CLAIM IT
You would normally need to make a claim within 21 months of your partner’s death, although there are circumstances where this is extended – you can call the DWP’s Bereavement Service for help.
To receive the highest level of payment you would normally need to make a claim within 3 months of your partner’s death.
If your partner died before 9 February 2023 (and after 5 April 2017), you may be able to get backdated payments but you would need to make this claim before 9 November 2024.
You can apply online via the gov.uk website, by telephone on 0800 151 2012 or by sending a Bereavement Support Payment form to the address at the bottom of the form. You can also pick up a form at your local JobCentre Plus.
HOW MUCH IS IT?
The amount you can get will depend on:
your relationship to the person who died
when you make your claim
when you reach State Pension age
There are two rates of payment, the higher rate and the standard rate.
You can get the higher rate:
if you were pregnant at the time of your late partner’s death or;
you were entitled to Child Benefit at the time of your late partner’s death or;
since your partner died, you became entitled to Child Benefit for a child who was living with you or your partner immediately before they died.
The most you can get through the higher rate is a one-off payment of £3,500 as well as 18 monthly payments of £350.
The maximum for everyone else through the standard rate is a one-off payment of £2,500 plus 18 monthly payments of £100.
These payments are not taxable and are not included when calculating your entitlement to means-tested benefits or the benefit cap.
You can find more information on the gov.uk, moneyhelper and ageUK websites.
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than you invested.
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