Bereaved Parents Claim for Bereavement Award
In the realm of bereavement support and claims, two key articles shed light on vital information for eligible parents, particularly regarding imminent deadlines and eligibility criteria.
An important reminder is penned by Lucy Alderson, highlights a crucial deadline to claim a bereavement award looming for parents who have lost a partner. These individuals have until February 8 to submit a backdated claim to the government for financial assistance, potentially amounting to thousands of pounds.
IMPORTANT NOTE ON BEREAVEMENT AWARD
This award is payable by the Government and must be distinguished from a bereavement award that is payable due to:
- A death caused by an accident at work or
- A death caused by dangerous driving on the road,
- A death or caused by careless driving on the road,
- Where a loved one, a family member, has been unlawfully killed due to a criminal activity.
The Government Bereavement Award
This benefit, historically available only to married couples or those in civil partnerships, was extended last year to include cohabiting parents. The deadline is critical: claims can be backdated as far as 2001, but after February 8, claims can only be backdated to August 30, 2018. The bereavement support payment system, which replaced the widowed parent’s allowance in 2017, varies depending on the partner’s national insurance contributions and the claimant’s circumstances. Urgency is paramount, as the application process requires a form downloadable from the gov.uk website, to be submitted before the deadline.
How to Claim for Backdated Widowed Parent’s Allowance
The eligibility for the Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA), now superseded by the Bereavement Support Payment. It clarifies that existing WPA recipients will continue receiving payments until eligibility ceases.
New claims for WPA are restricted to those whose partners passed away before April 6, 2017. Eligibility hinges on several factors: being under state pension age, entitlement to Child Benefit for at least one child, and the marital or living arrangement with the deceased partner, who must have met certain contribution conditions. Interestingly, the allowance is also accessible to those who were pregnant at the time of their partner’s death or became pregnant through fertility treatment thereafter. However, there are restrictions: divorcees, those who have remarried or are cohabiting, and individuals over the state pension age at the time of their partner’s death are ineligible.
For individuals seeking bereavement support, understanding these eligibility requirements and deadlines is crucial. The government’s bereavement support provides a financial lifeline during challenging times, and awareness of these opportunities can significantly impact the lives of those affected by loss.
Making a claim for a bereavement support payment can be found on our website under bereavement award and the relevant part is reproduced below:
What Is the Bereavement Support Payment?
Making a claim for a bereavement support payment can be found on our website under bereavement award and the relevant part is reproduced below, but please click on the Government Website Bereavement Support Payment for up to date information on claiming.
The Government scheme may help families who have lost a loved one, but it has been heavily criticised when it was updated recently as families, especially with children, are said to be losing out.
The benefit is called a Bereavement Support Payment and is payable if a husband, wife or civil partner died on or after 6 April 2017.
If that is the case, then the following must be met:
- paid National Insurance contributions for at least 25 weeks
- the death was caused by an accident at work or a disease caused by work
- be under the State Pension age
- be living in the UK or a country that pays bereavement benefits
But, according to the Childhood Bereavement Network, it claims that working families could lose out by £12,000 each due to the law change by the Conservative Government in 2017, as per this childhood bereavement article.
What Is the Widow’s Parent Allowance?
A Government scheme may also pay you an additional amount under what is called the Widowed Parent’s Allowance if:
- husband, wife or civil partner died before 6 April 2017
- under State Pension age
- entitled to Child Benefit for at least one child and your late husband, wife or civil partner was their parent
- your late husband, wife or civil partner paid NI contributions, or they died as a result of an industrial accident or disease
The Government website also says that you may also claim WPA if you’re pregnant and your husband has died, or if you’re pregnant after fertility treatment and your civil partner has died.
The amount you get is based on how much your late husband, wife or civil partner paid in National Insurance contributions and the maximum benefit paid is £117.10 a week.
But time is running out.
