NP45 - A guide to Bereavement Benefits

Bereavement Allowance

Bereavement Allowance is a regular payment of benefit starting on the Tuesday after you are widowed or become a surviving civil partner. If you are widowed or become a surviving civil partneron a Tuesday, it will start on that day. It is taxable and based on NI contributions. [Legislation (20)]

It is a basic allowance related to your age when you were widowed or become a surviving civil partnerand is payable for up to one year following bereavement.

Who can get Bereavement Allowance

You can get Bereavement Allowance if:

• your widowed or become a surviving civil partnerhad met the NI contribution conditions, or their death was caused by their job and you were 45 or over when they died. [Legislation (21)]

Who cannot get Bereavement Allowance

You cannot get Bereavement Allowance and Widowed Parent‘s Allowance at the same time.

You cannot get Bereavement Allowance when Widowed Parent‘s Allowance stops if you received Widowed Parent‘s Allowance for one year or more.

You cannot get Bereavement Allowance:

• if you are divorced or person whose civil partnership has been dissolved from your late husband, wife or civil partner
• or if you remarry or reform a civil partnership [Legislation (22)]
• or if you are living with someone else as husband, wife or civil partner
• or while you are in prison or are held in legal custody [Legislation (23)]
• or you are over minimum state pension age.

What you can get

Table 2 on summarises the bereavement benefits or State Pension you may be able to get, depending on your age when your husband, wife or civil partner died.

How to claim Bereavement Allowance

You make one claim to cover all bereavement benefits. Use the BB1 claim pack. You can get this from your Jobcentre Plus office, Jobcentre or social security office. See for details of how you will be paid. As part of the conditions for claiming bereavement benefit you may be asked to attend a Work Focused Interview. For more details see Advice for people claiming bereavement benefit at a Jobcentre Plus office.

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