Financial Support for unmarried parents bereaved of a partner - backdated!

[SunniDay]

Eligibility of bereavement payments on the loss of a partner (for parents) has been widened to include unmarried parents and that eligibility has been backdated.

AIBU to use the reach of mumsnet to find some of the 16000 parents who have been bereaved of a partner and have not yet claimed the bereavement support payment that they are (now) entitled to?

If this post helps one bereaved family then it has been worthwhile - and it is estimated there are 16000 families out there yet to claim.

The following is what I have understood from the podcast. If you think you could be eligible please check the criteria direct at source and consider putting in a claim.

From the website https://www.childbereavementuk.org/bereavement-support-payments
"This change is being backdated (people eligible to claim child benefit on - my brackets) 30 August 2018, when the Supreme Court ruled that denying these benefits to cohabiting families was unlawful. 21,000 families, some bereaved as long ago as 2001, could be eligible for backdated payments of Bereavement Support Payment (currently worth £9,800) or its predecessor, Widowed Parent’s Allowance."

The "Moneybox" podcast states that you must have been entitled to child benefit on the 30 August 2018 to put in a claim. You also need to be under state pension age (I assume on the same date but I am not certain) and there are two different benefits that parents might be entitled to. Parents whose partner died between 2001 and April 2017 could be eligible for backdated payment of the "Widowed Parents Allowance". Parents whose partner died after April 6 2017 could be entitled to the "Bereavement Support Payment".

The deadline for backdating claims is currently 8 Feb 2024.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001r0sl
BBC Money box programme, 30 Sept 2023/ Starts at 8:49

https://www.widowedandyoung.org.uk/about/campaigning/campaigning-for-bereaved-cohabiting-couples
#findthe21K

Go to gov.uk and type in Bereavement Support

Thank you @SunniDay . I just saw this on MSE, then found your post. I didn't think I could claim as the wording suggested I wasn't eligible as I have since married. However, I'll be submitting my claim next week, just before the deadline.

It's been covered galore by Martin Lewis on his TV shows for months. Just this week he has reminded everyone to tell anyone that they think may be eligible to put a claim in before this month's deadline.

Good luck with your claim @hedgehoglurker. I hope it is successful.

I know that this is an old thread but I just wondered if anyone has been successful in claiming widowed parent’s allowance and what the timescale was. I put in my claim around 20th Jan 2024 and received a text in the 27th Jan from DWP to say that they had received my claim and that they would contact me if they needed more info and I didn’t need to contact them. I’ve heard absolutely nothing since so I was just wondering if this was normal? I know I made the claim fairly close to the cut off date so they may have a lot of claims to deal with.

I claimed in the first week of Feb and also received that text, but nothing else.

My late partner died in approx 2009, and I later got married, so not sure if my claim will be accepted for the period up to my marriage, or rejected completely as I was married before the 2018 judgement.

I hope to hear soon, as like most, we could really use the backpayment.

@hedgehoglurker so sorry that this has also happened to you and your DC.
Thank you so much for your reply. It’s really helped as I was worried that perhaps I had done something wrong. My understanding is that it can be backdated to 2018 but if you got married you would only be paid up until the point you got married. I could be wrong though, there is so little information out there. I tried to find out if it would actually make me worse off due to tax credits but nobody at CAB could answer my question so in the end, I just decided to apply.
🤞That we both hear soon.

@hedgehoglurker have you hear anything yet? I still haven’t heard anything. Hopefully you have had some good news.

No, sadly nothing heard yet either @Helpforthe .

Thank for replying. So sorry to hear that, 🤞for both of us. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.

I’ve still not heard anything, it’s been 3 months now 😞. Anyone else applied at a similar time, late Jan 2024, and heard or not hear anything?
@hedgehoglurker I hope that you’ve had some news.

@Helpforthe No news here yet either, unfortunately. I think my text confirming receipt of my application was on the final day, 08 Feb, so I anticipate you hearing first. Still hoping no news is good news...

@hedgehoglurker thank you, you give me hope 😃. I keep wondering if something has happened to my application as it’s been so long, hopefully not. I definitely got the message about receiving the claim so 🤞. Will let you know if I hear anything, I keep checking my bank account and hoping!

Just an update, so after 3 and a half months, I have had a letter asking me to send more information 🙄. I am hoping I can find the evidence required as my partner died over 10 years ago.

Oh! Well at least you know it is being processed, so that is something 🤞.

What sort of info are they asking for, if you don't mind me asking? (I've still not heard from them yet and it is over 15 years in my case.) Proof that you lived together? His National Insurance contributions? That he's the father of your child/ren?

I applied at the end of Jan so I expect that you will hear soon.
I have been asked to send the original death certificate and also proof that we were living at the same address. There is a whole list of options to send in for proof, it’s just being so long ago, I’ll have to have a rummage to see what I can find. It’s a good thing that I am a bit of a hoarder 🤣.
Hope that you hear something soon. We can keep each other posted 😄.

Hopefully this means that you haven't been rejected. Best of luck!

Hi,
If you don't have any luck digging out old bills etc as proof of co-habiting it occurred to me that the electoral roll might be useful.

You can search old electoral roles from 2002 at this 192 site. Although there is a cost but might be worth a look if you can't dig out any documents.

The name in my screen shot is just made up for an example.

Thank you, that’s really helpful. It does mention something about confirmation from the electoral register. I am hoping that I can find some paperwork 🤞, sometimes it pays to be a hoarder 😁.

Yes 🤞, I hope that you hear something soon too.

@Helpforthe I hope you found the evidence you needed and have better news than me. I received a letter today saying that my claim was rejected as I got married before 2018. (Late partner died in 2008.)

I thought this might be the case, but hoped I'd receive a payment for the period that I was effectively a widowed parent, between the death and my later marriage.

Oh no, I am so sorry, that’s terrible! As far as I can see, the only reason the government are making payments is because a case was won and the person received the payment from 2018. I think that’s why it is paid from 2018, when really they should do the decent thing, and pay people from when their partner died if it was after say the year 2001 (as that is the first year of your partner dying when you would be eligible). My partner died very young in 2011, it’s unlikely I’ll get much as he won’t have made many NI contributions, and no allowance is made for the age they died apparently 🙄. There is also no consideration for the amount of children you have, so I have 3, but would receive the same payment as someone with one child.
Anyway, my update is that, amazingly, I have found the evidence but haven’t sent it in. I am a bit concerned that it will make me worse off as it may finish my tax credit payments. I am thinking of asking for more time before submitting the evidence. No one seems to know what will happen or if it will make me worse off, also with the switch to UC, I am very much working in the dark and scared of being even worse off 😞.

Just thought I’d update. I received a back payment for WPA. Tax credits take this as my income for this year so my tax credits have finished and they have said that I will have to pay back all tax credits payments for this year. The WPA payments are less than Tc’s before tax. WPA is also taxable so the back payment will be added to my salary for this year and I will pay a lot of tax on it. I have also been told that I won’t be able to claim UC as my tax credits have stopped. All in all I could actually be worse off as my children will not receive bursaries for this year due to not claiming tax credits 😞. If WPA had been paid originally, in the years when it was due, I would have paid hardly anything in tax and I would not have lost any tax credits as my earnings are so low. I really feel like what was the point of all this now, is it just to make the government look like they are doing the right thing?
If anyone has any advice, I’d be grateful.

@Helpforthe I just saw this! OMG, how awful! I have no advice but bumping for you. Perhaps you should start a new thread with a more specific title in Money Matters or Legal (if you haven't already). Actually, you should try MSE, as Martin Lewis was the one promoting us to apply for this. I hope you get a better outcome and if you can, please update.

Thank you so much, I will. I have asked for a mandatory reconsideration but don’t hold out much hope. Good idea to start a new thread X

@Helpforthe Same thing has happened to me. Received a letter today letting me know there has been a UC overpayment and I have to pay back the lot. My tax has gone up too because of this. What was the point in it all indeed!