Bereavement Support Payment

You can claim Bereavement Support Payment if:

• Your husband, wife, or civil partner died on or after 6 April 2017
• You were under State Pension age when your partner died
• Your partner paid National Insurance contributions for at least 25 weeks in one tax year, or died as a result of an industrial accident or disease
• You were living in the UK or another qualifying country at the time of the death

BSP is not available to unmarried partners, regardless of how long the relationship lasted. If you were cohabiting but not married or in a civil partnership, you may be entitled to other benefits such as Universal Credit, but not BSP.

There are two rates of Bereavement Support Payment:

Higher rate (if you were pregnant at the time of death or entitled to Child Benefit for at least one child):

• Lump sum: £3,500
• 18 monthly payments of £350

Lower rate (all other eligible claimants):

• Lump sum: £2,500
• 18 monthly payments of £100

BSP is tax-free, does not count as income for most benefit purposes, and can be received alongside Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, and most other benefits. It will not usually reduce your entitlement to other means-tested benefits.

Claim Bereavement Support Payment as soon as possible after the death — payments are only backdated to the date of the death if you claim within three months. After three months, you will only receive monthly payments from the date of your claim, and if you claim after 12 months, you may lose entitlement entirely.

You can claim:

• Online: via GOV.UK at gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment/how-to-claim
• By phone: Call 0800 151 2012
• By post: Download form BSP1 from GOV.UK

You will need the deceased's National Insurance number, death certificate, and your bank account details. If the death is recent and you do not yet have the death certificate, submit the claim anyway and provide the certificate when available.

Bereavement Support Payment addresses the immediate financial shock of losing a partner, but there are several other financial considerations and benefit entitlements that can arise after a bereavement.

Universal Credit and bereavement: If you and your late partner were on a joint UC claim, your claim will need to be converted to a single claim. Contact the DWP as soon as possible — your housing element and standard allowance will be recalculated for a single person. There is a bereavement run-on of three assessment periods during which your UC award is calculated as if your household circumstances had not changed, giving you time to adjust. After the run-on ends, your UC will be assessed on your new single-person circumstances.

Council tax discounts: If you now live alone following the death of your partner, you are entitled to a 25% single-person council tax discount. Notify your local council immediately. The discount is applied from the date you became the sole adult occupant — you may be able to reclaim council tax overpaid since the death. Some councils also apply a temporary "bereavement exemption" for the period immediately following a death while the estate is being wound up.

Pension entitlements: If your late partner was in a workplace or private pension scheme, the pension provider should be notified promptly. Many occupational pensions have a bereavement or death-in-service payment. If your late partner was a deferred member of a defined benefit pension, you may be entitled to a survivor's pension. For the State Pension, if your late partner had a good National Insurance record, you may be able to inherit part of their Additional State Pension or Basic State Pension entitlement — check with the Pension Service.

The NI contributions condition for BSP: The requirement that your late partner paid at least 25 weeks of Class 1 NI contributions (or died as a result of an industrial accident) can be a barrier in some cases. If they were self-employed, Class 2 contributions do not qualify. If they had gaps in their NI record, it is worth checking whether any qualifying year exists — HMRC can supply a NI record for a deceased person to support a BSP claim. Citizens Advice can help you trace this.

Challenging a refused BSP claim: If your claim is refused — most commonly because the DWP says the NI conditions are not met — you can request a Mandatory Reconsideration within one month of the decision. If the MR upholds the refusal, you can appeal to the Social Security Tribunal. Refusals are sometimes overturned where the NI record can be reconstructed from employment records or where a contributing cause of death can be attributed to an industrial disease.