Bereavement support payment for kinship carers

What is the Bereavement Support Payment?

The Bereavement Support Payment is financial help from the government if your partner has died.

It has replaced the following benefits:

• Widowed Parent’s Allowance – if you already get this, your payments will continue until you’re no longer eligible
• Bereavement Allowance (previously Widow’s Pension)
• Bereavement Payment

It is not a means tested benefit. This means you can claim regardless of your income or whether you’re in or out of work.

Am I eligible for the Bereavement Support Payment?

To make a claim, when your partner died you must have been:

• under State Pension age (check your State Pension age on GOV.UK)
• living in the UK
• married to your partner, in a civil partnership or living with them as if you were married

Your partner must have either:

• paid a certain amount of National Insurance (Class 1 or Class 2) contributions in any one tax year, since 6 April 1975
• died because of an accident at work
• died because of a disease caused by work

If you are in prison, you cannot claim Bereavement Support Payment.

How much will I get?

The amount of Bereavement Support Payment that you can get will depend on:

• how quickly you make the claim
• your relationship to the person
• when you reach State Pension age (if you reach State Pension age within 18 months of your partner’s death, you may get fewer monthly payments)

If you were married or in a civil partnership

The most you can get is a one-off payment of £3,500 or 18 monthly payments of £350. You’ll be eligible for this higher rate if, when your partner died, you were:

• pregnant
• getting child benefit
• you were entitled to child benefit (according to the Child Benefit Office)

If you’re not eligible for the higher rate, you will get the lower rate, which is a one-off payment of £2,500 or 18 monthly payments of £100.

If you were living together as if you were married

The most you can get is a one-off payment of £3,500 or 18 monthly payments of £350.

Will the Bereavement Support Payment affect my other benefits?

In the first year, the payment will not affect the amount you receive from other benefits. After one year, if you have any money left from your first payment it could affect the amount of benefit you receive.

You have a duty to notify your benefits office of any changes in your income, this includes notifying them when you start to receive Bereavement Support Payments.

When do I need to make a claim?

To get the one-off payment and all 18 monthly payments, you must claim within 3 months of your partner’s death.

If it’s been over 3 months but less than a year, you can get the one-off payment but only some of the monthly payments.

If it’s been over 12 months, but fewer than 21 months, you cannot get the one-off payment. But you can still get some monthly payments.

If it’s been over 21 months since your partner’s death, you usually cannot get any payments.

How do I apply for the Bereavement Support Payment?

You can apply for the Bereavement Support Payment online via GOV.UK, by telephone (call the Bereavement Service helpline on 0800 151 2012) or by post.

When you apply, you will need the following:

• your National Insurance number
• your bank or building society account details
• the date your partner died
• your partner’s National Insurance number