A Change to Entitlements for Bereavement Support Payments

St Barnabas Hospice would like to make Lincolnshire-based people aware of a change made on 9^th February 2023 to the government’s Bereavement Support Payments. 

If you have or did have dependent children and a partner you were living with as though you were married who died on or after 6^th April 2017, you may be entitled to claim backdated bereavement support payments.

Previously you could only claim when your partner died if you were legally married or in a registered civil partnership. The law now states you can claim if you ‘were living together as if you were married’.

Chloe Pearson, Welfare & Benefits Manager at St Barnabas Hospice, said the criteria for this are as follows: 

“You must have been under the State Pension age when your partner died or under the State Pension age on 30 August 2018.

“When your partner died, you must have been either getting (or been entitled to) Child Benefits or pregnant. You must meet the eligibility rules for Child Benefits, but you do not need to have made a claim for it.

“If your partner died before 6 April 2017, you may be able to get Widowed Parent’s Allowance instead.”

Please note claims must be made before February 2024.

Chloe and her team at St Barnabas help support patients registered to a Lincolnshire GP who have life-limiting or terminal illnesses that make claims for benefits and grants they may be entitled to. These conditions include any cancer diagnosis and conditions such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Heart Failure, Motor Neuron Disease (MND), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and others.

In the financial year of 2022-23, the team received 5,323 referrals into the service and helped claim a total of £10 million worth of benefits and grants.

Chloe said:

“We can advise patients and their families or carers on what benefits they could be potentially eligible for, and we also provide support with applications for grants, blue badges, bus passes and much more.

“We realise how important it is to have that financial support when you or your family have been diagnosed with a life-limiting or terminal illness. That is why making people aware of this change in law for bereavement support payments is important to us, as we want to ensure everyone claims what they are entitled to.”

People who have not claimed the Bereavement Support payment and think they would be eligible can call the DWP bereavement service on 0800 151 2012 or visit the government’s website for more information and to apply online: www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment.

If you are living with a life-limiting or terminal illness, are registered to a Lincolnshire GP and would like to explore what benefits you may be eligible for, you can call the Welfare & Benefits team on 01476 513544.

St Barnabas also offers free bereavement support through their Bereavement Helpline on 0300 303 1897, available 11am to 3pm, Monday to Friday. The support is open to any adult registered with a Lincolnshire GP and bereaved of an adult, not just those that have accessed Hospice care.

For more information about bereavement support, counselling and other types of well-being support from St Barnabas, please visit: www.stbarnabashospice.co.uk/wellbeing.