Bereavement Support Payment

If your partner has died you, may be able to claim Bereavement Support Payment to help ease financial worries. 

You can also qualify for Bereavement Support Payment if you were not married or in a civil partnership providing you were living with a partner who has died and you have a child or children.

What is Bereavement Support Payment?

Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) is a benefit that you may be able to claim if your spouse, civil partner has died. You can also claim BSP if a partner who you lived with died providing you have a child or children.

This benefit isn't means-tested, so you can make a claim regardless of your income or whether you're in work, but there are certain eligibility criteria. 

BSP has replaced the following benefits:

• Bereavement Allowance (which was previously known as 'Widow's Pension')
• Widowed Parent’s Allowance
• Bereavement Payment.

Can I claim Bereavement Support Payment if I'm not married or in a civil partnership?

If you have a child or children and were living with your partner when they died, then you can claim BSP. 

On 9 February 2023 the law changed to extend BSP to cohabiting partners (provided the claimant has a child or children).

This law also applies to you if you could've claimed Widowed Parent’s Allowance, which is payable to bereaved parents whose partner died before 6 April 2017. The change doesn't apply to bereaved partners who don't have children. Contact the DWP Bereavement Service helpline on 0800 731 0464 to make a claim and request backdating of up to 3 months. 

How much Bereavement Support Payment could I get?

There are 2 different rates of BSP:

• If you're not responsible for a child under the age of 20, you could get a lump sum payment of £2,500 followed by 18 monthly payments of £100.
• If you're responsible for a child under the age of 20, you could get a lump sum payment of £3,500 followed by 18 monthly payments of £350.

These payments aren't taxable, the lump sum is ignored for 52 weeks and the monthly payments aren't included when calculating your entitlement to means-tested benefits or the benefit cap. 

Am I eligible to claim Bereavement Support Payment?

You can claim BSP if:

• your spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner has died
• you were under State Pension age when they died
• your partner paid National Insurance contributions for at least 25 weeks in any single tax year since 1975
• you were living in the UK at the time of the death (or another country that pays bereavement benefits).

Find out more about claiming benefits while living abroad on GOV.UK

When should I apply for Bereavement Support Payment?

You should claim Bereavement Support Payment within 3 months of the death to get the full amount. The monthly payments can be paid for up to 18 months following the death and your claim can be backdated for up to 3 months. This means if you make a claim over 3 months after the death of your partner you will lose some BSP. You qualify for the lump sum as long as you claim within 12 months of the death.

How to claim Bereavement Support Payment

There are several ways that you can claim BSP. You can:

• call the Bereavement Service helpline on 0800 151 2012 
• apply online on GOV.UK
• download a claim form on GOV.UK to print and return by post
• contact your local Jobcentre Plus to have a paper form sent to you.

More Bereavement Support Payment questions