Anyone whose spouse dies before drawing a state pension qualifies for a bereavement payment of £2000. Men became eligible from April 9 2001. According to the DWP the cut-off deadline to claim was extended from three to 12 months from April 1 2003. People who qualify for this bereavement payment should also inherit the spouse’s Serps entitlement immediately if there are still dependent children or otherwise from state pensions age, and may still be possible even if they had contracted out of Serps. The relevant DWP booklet is SERPS LI, although the information it contains is apparently sketchy.
It should be a requirement of registrars to remind the newly bereaved, who are often in no fit state to wade through leaflets, that the benefit exists and on what basis it is paid. After all, £2,000 is a substantial sum to lose through ignorance.
Posted on behalf of Janet Harris