Widowed Parent's Allowance

Printable version

1. Eligibility

Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA) has been replaced by Bereavement Support Payment. If you already get WPA, your payments will continue until you are no longer eligible.

This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).

You can only make a new claim for WPA if your partner died before 6 April 2017. When they died, you and your partner must have either been:

  • married or in a civil partnership
  • living together as though you were married or in a civil partnership

If you were married or in a civil partnership, your partner must also have only recently been declared dead. You’ll need to confirm the cause of death.

All the following must also apply:

You may also claim WPA if you were pregnant when your partner died, or you were pregnant after fertility treatment when your partner died.

When you cannot claim WPA

You cannot claim WPA if you:

  • were divorced or had ended your civil partnership when your partner died
  • were no longer living with your partner when they died
  • have remarried or formed a new civil partnership
  • are living with another person as if you’re married or in a civil partnership with them
  • were over State Pension age when your partner died – you may be able to get extra State Pension
  • are in prison

2. What you'll get

The amount you get is based on how much your partner paid in National Insurance contributions.

The maximum Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA) is £148.40 a week.

If your partner died because of an accident at work or a disease caused by work, you may claim WPA even if they did not pay National Insurance contributions.

You’ll continue to get WPA until you either:

How WPA is paid

WPA is usually paid into your bank, building society or credit union account.

Report changes that affect other benefits

Other benefit payments you get may change when you start claiming WPA.

Once you get WPA, you must report it if you’re getting any of the following:

If you do not report changes straight away, you could be paid the wrong amount and have to pay it back. You might also have to pay a fine.

The benefit cap

The benefit cap limits the total amount of benefit you can get. It applies to most people aged 16 or over who have not reached State Pension age.

Some individual benefits are not affected, but it may affect the total amount of benefit you get.

3. How to claim

If you live in England, Scotland or Wales

You need to either:

Send your completed form to:

Dover Benefit Centre
Post Handling Site B
Wolverhampton
WV99 1LA

Other ways to apply

Call the Bereavement Service helpline to ask for alternative formats of the application pack, such as braille, large print or audio CD.

Bereavement Service helpline
Telephone: 0800 151 2012
Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 151 2012
Welsh language: 0800 731 0453

British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service if you’re on a computer - find out how to use the service on mobile or tablet

Textphone: 0800 731 0464
Welsh language: 0800 731 0456

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm
Find out about call charges

If you live in Northern Ireland

Call the Bereavement Service in Northern Ireland and choose option 3.

You can also download and fill in a Widowed Parent’s Allowance claim form. Send it to the address on the claim form.

If you live abroad

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

International Pension Centre
Telephone: +44 191 21 87608
Find out about call charges

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

You must include your:

  • full name
  • date of birth
  • National Insurance number (if you know it)

If you disagree with a decision

You can challenge a decision about your claim. This is called asking for ‘mandatory reconsideration’.

4. If your circumstances change

You must tell Dover Benefit Centre if you:

  • stop being entitled to Child Benefit
  • remarry or form a civil partnership
  • start to live with a partner as husband or wife, or as if you had formed a civil partnership

Dover Benefit Centre
Telephone: 0800 151 2012
Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 151 2012
British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service if you’re on a computer - find out how to use the service on mobile or tablet
Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm
Find out about call charges

Dover Benefit Centre
Post Handling Site B
Wolverhampton
WV99 1LA

If you live in Northern Ireland, tell the Bereavement Benefits section instead.

If you’ve been paid too much

You may have to repay the money if you:

  • did not report a change straight away
  • gave wrong information
  • were overpaid by mistake

Find out how to repay the money you owe from benefit overpayment.