Have children and have lost your unmarried, co-habiting partner? You may now be eligible to claim

kaMelo

To qualify for any payments prior to August 2018 you needed to be married or in a civil partnership, the change in legislation does not change this requirement. As you were unmarried then any qualification you have applies only from August 2018 onwards. As you (re)married prior to this date then your qualification ceased, as it would for everyone.
There is nothing to appeal.

sheramber

August 2018 is the date to which the regulation was drawn up to be backdated to.

MSE_Helen_K

Hi everyone, we know there's been lots of confusion over some aspects of this support for both backdated and new claims. We've asked the Government to clarify the information on Gov.uk and we've also updated our guide on this to make it clearer. You can read a news story on this below...  

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Unmarried bereaved parents have been left saddened and confused after claims for financial support were rejected or they got less than they were initially entitled to. Both problems are due to misleading info on Gov.uk about the support. MoneySavingExpert.com has written to the Government urging it to clarify its guidance to help prevent further confusion among claimants.

Read the full story:
'Gov.uk info misleads bereaved parents into thinking they're entitled to £1,000s in support – MSE calls for urgent clarification'

If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply.

kaMelo

I thought the information was quite clear.

Eligibility for any payments  prior to August 2018 still require you to have been married or in a civil partnership at the time of death, this hasn't changed. Guy

The successful legal challenge about unmarried couples only applies from August 2018 and any payments someone  qualies for, subject to the other criteria, would be backdated only to August 2018.

Edited to add:
Or maybe not, having re-read everything I'm not sure whether my interpretation was correct as it appears backdated payments can be made prior to August 2018 for unmarried couples as long as all other criteria are met.

Blossom7178

Hi 
I haven’t been on the forum for awhile. I am in the process of appealing against DWP decision, my MP is involved. Reading how many people have been turned down is it not worth starting a campaign against this, it seems like our children have been been discriminated against. The DWP knowing full well if a partner died for example in 2003 that their children would be too old to receive child benefit in August 2018. 

Been interesting to hear others views on this.

sheramber

DWP didn’t make the rule. The Government did. DWP can only follow the Government rules. 

Blossom7178

sheramber said:

DWP didn’t make the rule. The Government did. DWP can only follow the Government rules. 

Sorry the Government. Anyone else in a similar position? 

frankev66610

I have just made a claim for bereavement support payment partner died in 2020 left with 4 kids how long did people wait for successful claim?