Widowed Parent's Allowance

cw18

Just wondered if anyone could give me some idea of how much I might get for this?

The direct.gov website says the maximum payment is £90.70/week, which I assume is if the deceased partner/parent paid full NI for 2 years before their death.

My DH was laid off from work (due to factory closure) 2 years and 3 days before he died, and -- stubborn as ever -- he refused to sign on for JSA as he was confident he'd have a new job within a couple of months. However he was diagnosed with cancer before he started to look, so the only NI history he has in the last 2 years is a few days short of 1 year and 10 months from the contribution made whilst in receipt of IB. He was also the one who claimed CB until late last year -- we swapped it into his name when he took voluntary redundancy from another job in 2000 -- so is it possible the short short gap will be credited with something due to the HRP that he'll have from this? (Wondering as the form asks if he was in receipt of CB when he died)

We have one son still at home, who is just turned 17. He pulled out of college in November last year, but started an 'approved' college course this September (He's in receipt of EMA, and CTC was re-instated when he went back. Still waiting on the CB claim to be approved though!)

I'm assuming I won't get quite the full amount purely due to the 2 months with no NI credits (unless the HRP covers it), but will it also be lower due to it purely being based on credits rather than anything he paid?

I'm desperately trying to work out where I'm likely to stand financially, as I will be out of work from Thursday of next week (the end of my redundancy notice period). My redundancy lump sum with what savings I already had mean I won't be able to get anything that's means tested, so it's looking that this, the CB (once sorted), and a small pension (from a previous employer of DH) may be my only sources of income for a while.

I do want to get back into the workforce, but have medical issues (not enough to be signed off unless they flare up again, and not enough for any level of DLA) that will probably make it very difficult to find a job.

Valley's_girl

Hi Cheryl I just wanted to send my condolences to you and your family I am sure someone will be along shortly who can help.
Take care of yourself
Ally x

bunny999

I was very sorry to hear of your loss.

WPA is based on NI contributions throughout the deceased life. To get the full amount he would have to have paid or have credits for 90% of his working life - from age 16 to the end of the tax year before he died. If he hasn't enough contributions then the benefit will be paid on a percentage basis. It works pretty much the same way as retirement pension. On top of the basic amount you get extra for each child - it's £8.75 for the first child.
You need to being entitled to child benefit to get WPA.

Get your claim in ASAP as it will probably take a while to process.

cw18

I got the impression from the form it's based on the last 2 years (it asks for specifics of NI contributions over that time-frame), and got the same impression from the lady on the helpline when I phoned 'cos was struggling with a couple of the questions

bunny999

Please see www.dsdni.gov.uk - look for leaflet NP45 (page 80 - )- it explains the contributions needed for WPA.
You can't get WPA and Bereavement Allowance

cw18

Thanks for that link -- haven't seen that site before !!!

cw18

Sorry folks -- after some thoughts today I have another query on this allowance (having tried to make my books balance in the longer term).

Is it payable even if you're in work? Looking at the booklet and claim form I can claim this backdated to this last Tuesday (when I lost my DH), but am still on payroll myself up to and including next Wednesday (albeit I'm on redundancy notice and not actually in work).

The original plan was to then claim Carers Allowance rather than JSA(C) due to DH's health -- but clearly that's not a valid option anymore.

So if I claim JSA(C) could I get both that and the Widowed Parents Allowance (and the pension from DH's workplace)?

And how long can I defer applying for JSA(C)? I'm quite happy to be looking for work, as I've been at home almost full time since July '06 due to health problems and then the upcoming redundancy (think I've taken a couple of weeks leave and been in the office for 15 weeks since then, but 12 weeks of that was short hours on a phased return but still on full pay) and mentally feel the need to be "doing something". But realistically I accept that it's going to take a few months to sort out all the paperwork following the loss of DH, so would prefer to get that out of the way before looking for a job as I don't want it to cause problems with a new employer.


Still not even 100% sure where I actually stand with JSA(C) anyway, as from April '07 to October '07 I was on sick pay at half salary rate (still had NI deducted from it), but from October '07 until Feb '08 I was only getting IB -- so the only NI record I have for that period would only be credits from the IB. If this doesn't make a difference now, does anyone know when it would start to impact?

lil_me

Cheryl this all sounds ever so complicated and it might be best to speak to your local Welfare Rights office, they should be able to give you specific advice with all of your exact details. You can find them on your councils website. Some CAB offices can also offer benefit advice.

Dumfries welfare rights has a good website.

http://www.welfarerights.net/guides/widows.html

Macmillan also have benefit advisors http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Get_Support/Financial_help/Financial_help.aspx they came out to see my friends Mam after her father passed away, they'd never met anyone from the service before then

I am so sorry about your loss, I read about it on another board but just didn't know what to say, thinking of you and your son

cw18

Thanks for the suggestions, but I don't think the first two are really an option. The one time we've tried to get into CAB we were told we needed an appt -- and there wasn't one available for several weeks. And whilst we were being told this people with appts were being turned away as an advisor was ill -- they were being given new appts for a couple of weeks down the line, and I got the impression this happens on a regular basis.

As for Welfare Rights, I went in to check the groundwork I'd done was right. She told me certain things were wrong and that most of the figures I had were incorrect -- but I was more confident in my workings than the feedback from her, so applied for what I would have without having had the meeting...... and got what I applied for at the rates I'd expected.

Will have a think about MacMillan, but I'm really not sure that I can face getting involved with them now. We'd asked for help just before DH passed away (via the hospital), and they were supposed to phone me on Tuesday morning (I'd returned a call on Monday, and a message was being left for the lady) -- but the hospital must have passed on the news before she called, and I haven't heard a thing !!

bunny999

WPA is payable even if you are working, but it is taxable.

cw18

Thanks

Hadn't even thought about the taxable aspect That's going to make things even tighter between now and tax year end