Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2023

Statement

I am pleased to inform the House that tomorrow (9 February 2023), the Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2023 will come into force. This means, for the first time, bereaved cohabitees with children will be able to access Bereavement Support Payment and its predecessor, Widowed Parent’s Allowance, supporting thousands more families with dependent children.

Bereavement Support Payment was introduced on 6 April 2017, replacing the previous suite of bereavement benefits which included Widowed Parent’s Allowance. For Bereavement Support Payment, where a claimant’s partner died before 30 August 2018, we will make a part payment and no initial lump sum will be payable. Where the death occurred before the Order came into force and the claim is received within 12 months of that date, claimants will get the full amount due to them.

Widowed Parent’s Allowance was introduced in 2001 to replace Widowed Mother’s Allowance. It is payable to working age people who were bereaved before 6 April 2017 and who were entitled to Child Benefit for at least one child, or pregnant, on the date of death. It can be paid for as long as the claimant holds an entitlement to Child Benefit which can be up to 20 years in some cases.

Claimants will be eligible for Widowed Parent’s Allowance where the death was before 6 April 2017, and they continued to meet the entitlement conditions on 30 August 2018. They must also claim within 12 months of the date the Order comes into force.

Where more than one person claims for the same death, DWP will pay once per death, prioritising who was living with the claimant on the date of death. Where there are claims from different addresses, entitlement would be established as part of the normal decision-making process. In cases where more than one person was living with the deceased on the date of death, entitlement will be decided according to a hierarchy to reflect the most established relationship.

Widowed Parent’s Allowance is treated as income for the purposes of income-related benefits such as Universal Credit and is assessed at the point of award. This Order provides for all retrospective Widowed Parent’s Allowance payments up to the date of claim to be treated as capital and disregarded for 12 months or 52 weeks for the purposes of income-related benefits. This ensures that claimants will not lose any existing entitlement to income-related or passported benefits as a result of receiving a retrospective award. This Order also ensures there is a disregard for the same period for retrospective Bereavement Support Payment awards.

Widowed Parent’s Allowance will be treated as income for tax credits and assessed in the year of payment rather than entitlement so no adjustments to past years will be needed. The payment of Bereavement Support Payment does not affect a person’s tax credit entitlement.

For Bereavement Support Payment, claimants can make a claim online via GOV.UK, by phone through the DWP Bereavement Service number, or via a paper claim. As Widowed Parent’s Allowance has now been replaced by Bereavement Support Payment for deaths after April 2017, it is not possible to claim online and they will be processed by paper, with applications downloadable via GOV.UK or by calling the Bereavement Service number.

Any cohabiting parents who were previously ineligible for Bereavement Support Payment or Widowed Parent’s Allowance before the start date of the Order will need to make a new claim as this will be a new entitlement.