Parents urged to assert advantages value as much as £10,000 earlier than deadline
Widowed mother and father are being urged to examine whether or not they can declare backdated bereavement advantages earlier than the deadline in February.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) prolonged the eligibility standards to incorporate cohabitating mother and father with dependent youngsters, which means many extra households might be entitled to a fee, which might be value hundreds of kilos.
The Bereavement Support Payment and Widowed Parent’s Allowance are designed to assist mother and father with the monetary affect of dropping a companion. Previously these advantages have been solely out there to eligible bereaved mother and father who have been married or in a civil partnership, however the law was changed earlier this 12 months to make it fairer to youngsters.
DWP Minister Viscount Younger of Leckie stated: “This is an important law change which extends support to many more bereaved families with children, regardless of whether parents were married or in a civil partnership.
“I would urge any parents eligible for backdated money to put in their claim now so they can benefit from this financial support as soon as possible.”
Taking to ITV’s Lorraine present, Financial Times journalist and host of the podcast, Money Clinic, Claer Barrett advised viewers the assist “could be worth up to £10,000” in some instances making it “worth looking into”.
When the DWP prolonged eligibility in February, it opened a 12-month window for cohabiting mother and father to backdate their claims. This means mother and father whose companion died earlier than February 9, 2023, have till February 8, 2024, to assert.
After this, it won’t be attainable to assert Widowed Parent’s Allowance and oldsters won’t get their full entitlement to a backdated fee of Bereavement Support Payment.
Who is eligible for assist?
The profit a guardian is eligible for will rely on the date their companion died. If their companion died earlier than April 6, 2017, they would want to assert Widowed Parent’s Allowance.
If an individual’s companion died on or after April 6, 2017, they would want to assert Bereavement Support Payment, which has changed Widowed Parent’s Allowance.
The earliest level funds might be backdated to is August 30, 2018, even when the particular person’s companion died earlier than this date.
To qualify for both of those bereavement advantages, mother and father should be underneath the state pension age (at present 66), have paid a specific amount of National Insurance contributions and be both pregnant or having a dependent youngster on the day their companion died.
Alison Penny MBE, director of the Childhood Bereavement Network stated: “It has been very moving to hear stories from parents who have received a backdated payment after years of being unable to access this lifeline benefit for them and their children.
“We think there are many others out there who could be in line for payment. We encourage anyone who thinks they might be eligible to look into this and seek specialist welfare benefits advice if they are in any doubt about the effects that a back payment could have on their wider tax and social security entitlements.”
Parents can declare Bereavement Support Payment online, over the telephone or by a paper utility kind.