Bereavement allowance

BIG_NANNY

Can anyone tell why when my husband died last year aged 63 and I applied for the 12 months widows bereavement allowance I was entitled to from his national insurance stamps they stopped my incapacity (now esa) payment which is based on my own national insurance stamp record.
I was told that I cannot not claim both despite the fact that as I say they are based on us both having paid enough nat ins stamps.
My husband worked from aged 15 and paid towards his government pension which is now obviously lost to us. the government must make billions out of people who die as my husband did never reaching pension age.
Also does it mean that if I had been fit enough to work I could have been earning a fantastic wage and still been entitled to the widows pension yet someone like me disabled and living on disability benefits which is not a huge amount loses it. I am even taxed on the widows pension, I just can't win it appears.
What's worse is the Esa told my husband he could claim it for 6 months ( he was retired from his job 2 years before with emphysema) then he would be fit enough to return to work. They paid him for 6 months then stopped payment he appealed uselessly but died before he could fight it all the way. It makes me sick, I agree with more stringent checks but not what the government are doing targeting the most vulnerable , confusing them with forever changing rules and requirements. The more you work through your life and save or pay into pension the worse off you end up being. I have told my children don't struggle now to save for your old age because you will just be penalised for it.

SandraScarlett

Alas I have no useful advice to give you, but I couldn't just read and run. It is so unfair that someone like your late husband paid in a huge amount during his working life, and yet you're denied something that would make your life a little easier.


I hope that you can get some definite advice from other posters, and I'm so sorry for your loss.


xx

pmlindyloo

I am sorry to say that what you have been told is true.

I can't post a link at the moment but it's about overlapping benefits if you want to google it. Contribution based ESA and Bereavement Allowance are overlapping benefits and you can't claim both.

I suppose the logic is that neither are means tested so you could have thousands in the bank and still claim one or the other.

midnight_express

Widows and sickness have always been overlapping benefits - there is nothing new about this.

Morglin

BIG_NANNY wrote: »

Can anyone tell why when my husband died last year aged 63 and I applied for the 12 months widows bereavement allowance I was entitled to from his national insurance stamps they stopped my incapacity (now esa) payment which is based on my own national insurance stamp record.
I was told that I cannot not claim both despite the fact that as I say they are based on us both having paid enough nat ins stamps.
My husband worked from aged 15 and paid towards his government pension which is now obviously lost to us. the government must make billions out of people who die as my husband did never reaching pension age.
Also does it mean that if I had been fit enough to work I could have been earning a fantastic wage and still been entitled to the widows pension yet someone like me disabled and living on disability benefits which is not a huge amount loses it. I am even taxed on the widows pension, I just can't win it appears.
What's worse is the Esa told my husband he could claim it for 6 months ( he was retired from his job 2 years before with emphysema) then he would be fit enough to return to work. They paid him for 6 months then stopped payment he appealed uselessly but died before he could fight it all the way. It makes me sick, I agree with more stringent checks but not what the government are doing targeting the most vulnerable , confusing them with forever changing rules and requirements. The more you work through your life and save or pay into pension the worse off you end up being. I have told my children don't struggle now to save for your old age because you will just be penalised for it.

They are classed as 'overlapping benefits' and it's the same thing is someone on ESA or a retirement pension tries to claim Carers Allowance - they cannot get both, although they can get underlying entitlement, which can sometimes help with means tested benefits.

His long anyone has worked or not doesn't affect this, although Bereavement payments are generally paid for much less time than the old Widow's Pensions used to be.

To be fair, the overlapping benefits rule has been in existence for many, many years and pre-dates this government.

However, (and check this, because they might have changed the rules), you should, as your husband was under pension age, be entitled to £2000 bereavement payment.


Lin

help4help2013

you cant claim both full benefit at the same time im afraid but if the bereavement allowance is lower that your current ESA they top it up so you dont get paid any less (my friend ) currently only get s £68.00 week in bereavement allowance due to her husband national insurance contributions and the age he passed away at she was on ESA support group before . bereavement allowance is usually paid for 12 months

because she can only get £68.00 a week in bereavement allowance this is now topped up by esa to make the payments the same as she was getting when she was claiming esa

as the previous post advised have you applied for the £2000 one of payment/? if you need help with the funeral cost you can also apply for this too the bereavement department will take you though the steps of how to do this

melbury

Someone I know has just lost her husband and even though she is 69 years old she still works pretty much full time.

Would she be entitled to claim Bereavement Allowance? I think she only gets a small state pension due to opting out of NI contributions decades ago, but presumably now that her husband has died that pension will be increased.

However, I just wondered about the Bereavement Allowance.

pmlindyloo

melbury wrote: »

Someone I know has just lost her husband and even though she is 69 years old she still works pretty much full time.

Would she be entitled to claim Bereavement Allowance? I think she only gets a small state pension due to opting out of NI contributions decades ago, but presumably now that her husband has died that pension will be increased.

However, I just wondered about the Bereavement Allowance.

All the information you need here:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/benefits_e/benefits_bereavement_ew/benefits_and_bereavement.htm

melbury

pmlindyloo wrote: »

All the information you need here:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/benefits_e/benefits_bereavement_ew/benefits_and_bereavement.htm

Thanks for the information, looks like she is too old to claim it.

help4help2013

3. Eligibility

You may be able to get Bereavement Allowance if all of the following apply:

• you were aged 45 or over when your husband, wife or civil partner died
• you’re under State Pension age
• your late husband, wife or civil partner paid National Insurance contributions, or they died as a result of an industrial accident or disease
• you’re not bringing up children
• you haven’t remarried or reformed a civil partnership
• you aren’t living with another person as if you are married to them or as if you have formed a civil partnership
• you’re not in prison

If you were over State Pension age when you were widowed or became a surviving civil partner you may get extra State Pension. This is based on the National Insurance contributions of your late:

• husband
• wife
• civil partner

If you’re widowed or became a surviving civil partner below State Pension age and you have a dependent child you can claim Widowed Parent’s Allowance. You can’t get Widowed Parent’s Allowance and Bereavement Allowance at the same time.
Use the benefits adviser to check your eligibility.




https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-allowance/eligibility

poppasmurf_bewdley

This reference to your comment about the government making billions out of people dying early; although many people who make NI contributions do pass away before they can claim their pension (my own Father died aged 56), others live far longer than was anticipated when the NI system was introduced in 1948 (my mother died aged 87). More and more people are living past 100.

It's swings and roundabouts, and nobody can anticipate when any individual will pass away. We can just hope that we will live long enough to claim our state pension. I've just started as I'm 65, but my ex-wife will have to wait until she is 66 (boy is she mad about it). My kids will probably have to wait until they're 70 before they can get theirs.