Missed out on husband's lump sum Royal Navy widow .....

muminfrance

Hi.

My step father served as a Chief Petty Officer in the navy & was there for approx 22 years. After his service he met my mum & they were married for 16 years. He died at 54 of throat cancer missing out on the lump sum he was expectiong when he was 55 ........

10 years have now passed, My mum has never recieved this lump sum, or any part. All she has recieved in this time is a ridiculous pension which took her over her income support allowance forcing her to pay rent, council tax & be skint ever since. Due to ill health (cancer) she is now void of rent etc BUT it bothers me why my mum has never recieved any of her husbands expected lump amount.


My mum has tried to get help via the Citizens advice and never got anywhere. Now she has been ill going into town is a chore, she only has a mobile & no internet. Life is pretty down for her. I'd love to put a smile on her face, It's a difficult time when you lose someone you love & when that leaves you on poverty street it's very upsetting for all concerned.

Can anyone please point me in the right direction


Kind regards

x

Lottebear

What about contacting someone like SSAFA? They I sure would be able to advise on the specifics of entitlement?

http://www.ssafa.org.uk/

Andy_L

Or the service personnel & veterans agency:

http://www.veterans-uk.info/about_us/about_us.html

ajmoney

My mum has just started working for SSAFA, I will find out what info they need if you would like?

mountainofdebt

the other thing you can do is post on rumration (the unofficial site for future, present and past members of the RN).

In their forums they have a finance section and someone there may be able to offer some advice as to how to proceed or even the reasons why the lump sum wasn't paid.

molerat

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3094506 Double post from the op, my reply in that thread.

http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/55EDB...ambenefits.pdf is the one you need to read. There would be no lump sum at age 55 but an index linked increase to the full pension at time of discharge (assuming he had completed 22 years and was in receipt of a pension). As they married after he left service the widows pension is half of the pension due on service completed after 1978 so would be quite small.

LILLYBET

have you tried one of the agencies that help ex-services and families. IE.....Royal British Legion, SSAFA. If you are on the internet fine their websites and make contact with one or both of them. Worth a try.