If your husband, wife or civil partner has died you may be able to get Bereavement Payment: a one-off, tax-free, lump-sum payment of £2,000.

You can get a £2,000 payment which is a one-off, tax-free lump sum.

You may be able to claim Bereavement Payment if your spouse or civil partner paid National Insurance contributions. Contact the Bereavement Service for more information.

Bereavement Service
Telephone: 0845 606 0265
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm
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If your spouse or partner's death was caused by their job, it doesn't matter if they paid National Insurance contributions or not.

One of the following must also be true:

• you were under State Pension age when they died
• your spouse or civil partner was not entitled to Category A State Retirement Pension when they died

Contact The Pension Service if you aren’t sure what Pension they were getting.

You can’t get Bereavement Payment if any of the following are true:

• you were divorced or had dissolved the civil partnership when your spouse or partner died
• you’re living with another person as husband, wife or civil partner
• you’re in prison

If you’re abroad

Contact the International Pension Centre to find out if you can claim if you’ve moved abroad.

Department for Work and Pensions
Bereavement and widows' benefits
International Pension Centre
Tyneview Park
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
NE98 1BA

Bereavement and widows' benefits if you're abroad
Telephone: +44 (0)191 21 87608
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You must include your full name, date of birth and National Insurance number if you know it.

Print off and fill in a Bereavement Benefits pack (form BB1) or order it from your local Jobcentre Plus. The pack includes help notes on how to fill in the claim form.

Send your completed form to your local Jobcentre Plus as soon as possible.

Claims can only be backdated 12 months and are dated when the office gets them. You may lose benefit if you wait.

Effect on other benefits

The one-off Bereavement Payment does not usually affect your entitlement to other benefits. But your savings and Bereavement Payment may reduce the amount of means-tested benefits you get like:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Housing Benefit
• Employment and Support Allowance
• Universal Credit

How Bereavement Payment is paid

Bereavement Payments are paid into an account, eg your bank account.

National Insurance contributions

For more information about your National Insurance contributions contact:

National Insurance Contributions Office
Telephone: 0300 200 3500
Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm
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