Bereavement Benefit - (wording error on all websites re. eligibility)

benefitbaby

The relevant legislation is the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, section 36 (1):
(1)A woman who has been widowed shall be entitled to a widow’s payment of the amount specified in Schedule 4, Part II if—

(a)she was under pensionable age at the time when her late husband died, or he was then not entitled to a Category A retirement pension under section 44 below; and

(b)her late husband satisfied the contribution condition for a widows payment specified in Schedule 3, Part I, paragraph 4.

So in light of the above legislation an appeal against the disallowance decision is appropriate (and by all means send a complaint as well). You need to complete a GL24 appeal form and send this to the benefit delivery centre that refused the claim. This must be done within one month from the date of the disputed decision.

GL24 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gl24-if-you-think-our-decision-is-wrong

tomw3uk

Hi all, thank you for your help and support (and listening to us moan). Our local MP has come good and the cheque is now on its way. The MP is also requesting recordings of the phone calls as luckily we have the names of who we spoke to, which office they were in and the times. First time we've had to use our MP and they've come good.