Fillable Printable Bereavement Benefits Claim Form
Fillable Printable Bereavement Benefits Claim Form
Bereavement Benefits Claim Form
l Bereavement Payment
l Widowed Parent’s Allowance
l Bereavement Allowance
Help for widows, widowers and
surviving civil partners
Bereavement
benefits
BB1 Notes 01/15
This pack contains
– more information about bereavement benefits
– a bereavement benefits claim form.
2
What are bereavement benefits?
We use bereavement benefits to mean any of these
l Bereavement Payment
l Widowed Parent’s Allowance
l Bereavement Allowance.
They are all based on your spouse or civil partner’s National Insurance
(NI) contributions.
By your spouse or civil partner we mean the person you were legally
married to, or were in a civil partnership with, at the time of their death.
For people who live or have lived in Scotland
Please get in touch with us if you live or have lived in Scotland and you
are not sure if you were legally married.
Can I get bereavement benefits?
You may be able to get bereavement benefits if your spouse or civil
partner had paid enough NI contributions.
You cannot get bereavement benefits if at the time of death
l you were divorced from your spouse, or
l your civil partnership had been dissolved, or
l you were living together as if you were married, but you were not
legally married, or
l you had remarried or formed a civil partnership, or
l you were living with another person as if you were married.
The information in these notes will help you see if you are able to get
any of the bereavement benefits.
You can find out more about bereavement benefits at
www.gov.uk/browse/benefits/bereavement
But if you are still not sure if you can get bereavement benefit, claim
anyway.
3
Bereavement Payment
Answer these 3 questions to find out if you may be able to get a
Bereavement Payment.
1 Were you under state pension age when your spouse or
civil partner died?
2 Was your spouse or civil partner under state pension age
when they died?
3 Was your spouse or civil partner over state pension age
when they died and not entitled to a basic pension based
on their own contributions?
We call this a category A pension.
You may be able to get a Bereavement Payment
l if you have answered Yes to at least one of these questions, and
l if your spouse or civil partner had paid enough NI contributions.
If you are entitled to a Bereavement Payment, it will be paid as a lump
sum.
You may be able to get Widowed Parent’s Allowance or Bereavement
Allowance as well as a Bereavement Payment.
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
4
Widowed Parent’s Allowance
Please answer these questions to find out if you may be able to get
Widowed Parent’s Allowance.
1 Are you entitled to Child Benefit for one of your children or
one of your spouse or civil partner’s children?
3 Was your spouse or civil partner getting Child Benefit?
4 If you are a woman, are you pregnant?
2 Are you entitled to Child Benefit but not getting it because
you or your late spouse or civil partner fell into the High
Income Child Benefit charge group?
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
You may be able to get Widowed Parent’s Allowance
l if you have answered Yes to at least one of these questions, and
l if your spouse or civil partner had paid enough NI contributions.
But if you have answered No to all these questions, you may still be
able to get Bereavement Allowance.
If you are entitled to Widowed Parent’s Allowance, the amount that
you can get is based on the NI contributions of your spouse or civil
partner. It may include an Additional Pension based on their earnings
since 1978. It may also include an Additional Pension based on caring
responsibilities contribution-based Employment and Support
Allowance, or Incapacity Benefit since April 2002.
You can usually get Widowed Parent’s Allowance as long as you are
entitled to Child Benefit.
If you fall into the High Income Child Benefit charge group and you
have not claimed Child Benefit, you must do so for your claim for a
Widowed Parent's Allowance to be considered.
If you fall into this group please contact HM Revenue & Customs
(HMRC) to make your claim.
5
Widowed Parent’s Allowance continued
If you stop being entitled to Child Benefit within 52 weeks of the
death of your spouse or civil partner, you may be able to receive
Bereavement Allowance for the remainder of the 52 weeks. This does
not apply to you if you are a man whose wife died before
9 April 2001.
If your late spouse or civil partner was claiming Child Benefit and you
have not yet made a claim to transfer the Child Benefit to your
name, you must do so for your claim for a Widowed Parent's
Allowance to be considered.
If you fall into this group please contact HMRC to make your claim.
More information
For more information
l go to www.gov.uk/child-benefit/how-to-claim
l telephone the HMRC Helpline on 0300 200 3100. Lines are open
Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday 8am to 4pm. If you have
speech or hearing difficulties and use a textphone, the number to
use is 0300 200 3103.
Bereavement Allowance
Answer this question to find out if you may be able to get
Bereavement Allowance.
1 Were you aged 45 or over when your spouse or civil
partner died?
No
Yes
You may be able to get Bereavement Allowance
l if you have answered Yes to this question, and
l if your spouse or civil partner had paid enough NI contributions.
If you are entitled to Bereavement Allowance, the amount that you
can get depends on your age when your spouse or civil partner died
and your spouse or civil partner’s NI contributions.
If you were aged 55 or over, you may get the full rate of Bereavement
Allowance. But if you were aged under 55, you will get less than the
full amount.
6
Bereavement Allowance continued
Bereavement Allowance cannot include any Additional Pension and is
paid at the basic rate only.
You can usually get Bereavement Allowance for 52 weeks. It will stop if
you become entitled to State Pension before the end of the 52 weeks.
To find out when you can get State Pension visit
www.gov.uk/calculate-state-pension
If you were getting Widowed Parent’s Allowance for less than 52 weeks
and it stops because you are no longer entitled to Child Benefit, you
may be able to get Bereavement Allowance which is paid at the basic
rate only
l for the remainder of the 52 weeks, or
l until you are entitled to State Pension whichever comes first.
How to claim
Just fill in claim form BB1.
We are sorry that we have to ask you some questions about your spouse
or civil partner. This is because bereavement benefits are based on your
spouse or civil partner’s NI contributions.
If you have any difficulty filling in this claim form, someone else can do it
for you. You can ask a friend, a relative or an advice centre. Or ask at your
Jobcentre Plus office.
Please make sure that you sign the Declaration in Part 7 of the claim
form, if you can.
When to claim
You should send us the claim form BB1 as soon as possible.
l You must send us your claim form within 3 months of the death of
your spouse or civil partner. Failure to do so may affect your
entitlement to benefit.
l If your spouse died on or after 1 April 2003 your claim for a
Bereavement Payment can be accepted for up to 12 months.
l If your civil partner died on or after 5 December 2005 your claim for
a Bereavement Payment can be accepted for up to 12 months.
7
More about benefits for widows, widowers
and surviving civil partners
Are benefits for widows, widowers and surviving civil partners
affected by earnings?
No – if you work, your bereavement benefit will not go down because
of the money that you earn.
Are benefits for widows, widowers and surviving civil partners
taxable?
Bereavement Payment
This benefit is paid as a lump sum and is tax-free.
Widowed Parent’s Allowance or Bereavement Allowance
These benefits are taxable. If you have to pay tax, they are counted
as part of your income when tax is worked out.
What happens if you are also entitled to contribution-based
Employment and Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit?
If you are getting contribution-based Employment and Support
Allowance or Incapacity Benefit and
l the amount that you get is less than your bereavement benefit, or
l your contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance
stops because you have received it for 365 days
you will not lose money. We will pay you an amount of benefit to
make up your full entitlement.
You will pay tax on contribution-based Employment and Support
Allowance from the first day you get it.
8
Help and advice
If you want more information about bereavement benefits, or
any other benefit, or if you would like advice about
employment and training opportunities, please get in touch
with your Jobcentre Plus office.
You can find the phone number and address on the advert in
the business numbers section of the phone book. Look under
Jobcentre Plus.
You can get a bereavement benefits claim pack (form BB1) by
phoning 0845 606 0265. If you have speech or hearing
difficulties and use a textphone, call on 0845 606 0285.
You can download a claim pack at
www.gov.uk/browse/benefits/bereavement
Please complete the form and send to the Jobcentre Plus
address on the claim form or to your nearest Jobcentre Plus
office as soon as possible.
Voluntary organisations that may be able
to advise you
l For emotional support, contact
CRUSE Bereavement Care
Helpline
Email
Website
0844 477 9400
www.cruse.org.uk
l Your local Citizens Advice Bureau.
Bereavement
benefits
BB1 01/15
Your claim for bereavement benefits
l Your benefit payments may be delayed if you do not
– answer all the questions on this form that apply to you and
your spouse or civil partner
– send us all the documents we ask for.
If you cannot do this, get in touch with us straight away.
l Please tell us about any other personal details you think we
should know about in Part 6. For instance, other names or recent
previous addresses.
l For emotional support, contact
CRUSE Bereavement Care
Helpline 0844 4779 400
Email [email protected]
Website www.cruse.org.uk
l Your local Citizens Advice Bureau
The information we collect about you and how we use it depends
mainly on the reason for your business with us. But we may use it
for any of the Department’s purposes, which include
l social security benefits and allowances
l child support
l employment and training
l private pensions policy, and
l retirement planning.
We may get information from others to check the information you
give to us and to improve our services. We may give information to
other organisations as the law allows, for example to protect
against crime.
To find out more about how we use information, visit
www.gov.uk/dwp/personal-information-charter or contact
any of our offices.
Other organisations who might be able to help you
How we collect and use information
Part 1: About you
2
Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms
Surname or family name
All other names, in full
All other surnames or family names
you have been known by or are
using now.
Please include maiden name, all
former married or civil partnership
names and all changes of family
name where appropriate.
National Insurance (NI) number
You can find this on your National
Insurance (NI) numbercard, letters
from the Department for Work and
Pensions or payslips.
Letters Numbers Letter
Address
Code Number
Mobile phone number
Home phone number
private
personal
If you do not know your NI number,
have you ever had one or used one
at any time?
Yes
No
Email address
where we can contact you
Please confirm if this email address is
secure
Postcode
BB1 01/15
Date of birth
/ /
Please send us your original birth certificate, if you have it. Do not send us a
photocopy. But if you do not have your birth certificate, do not delay sending
in this claim form. If you prefer, you can take your birth certificate to your
Jobcentre Plus office. Take this form as well. They will sign this form to show that
they have seen your certificate.
Are you sending your birth
certificate with this form?
Yes
No
We will send your birth certificate back
to you as soon as we can.
Please fill in this form with BLACK INK and in CAPITALS.
Part 1: About you continued
3
Please send us your original marriage or civil partnership certificate, if you have
it. Do not send us a photocopy. But if you do not have your marriage or civil
partnership certificate, do not delay sending in this claim form. If you prefer,
you can take your marriage or civil partnership certificate to your Jobcentre Plus
office. Take this form as well. They will sign this form to show that they have
seen your certificate.
Are you sending your marriage or
civil partnership certificate with
this form?
Yes
No
We will send your marriage or
civil partnership certificate back
to you as soon as we can.
Please tell us the country where
your marriage or civil partnership
took place.
Did your marriage end in divorce
or has your civil partnership
been dissolved?
Are you legally separated?
Are you, or have you been living
with someone else as if you were
married to them, or as if you are
civil partners?
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Please tell us about this at Part 6.
BB1 01/15
What was the date of your
marriage or civil partnership?
If you converted or changed your
civil partnership into a marriage or
married your civil partner, enter
the date your marriage is treated
as starting on.
/ /
Under what law/religion was
the ceremony conducted?
