BSP1: Bereavement Support Payment claim form

You may be able to claim if your partner has died and, when they died, you were under State Pension age, living in the UK or a country that pays bereavement benefits, and married to them, in a civil partnership with them, or living with them as if you were married. Your partner must have paid enough Class 1 or Class 2 National Insurance in any one tax year since 6 April 1975, or died because of an accident at work or a disease caused by work.

If you were living together but not married, one of these must usually have applied when your partner died: you were getting Child Benefit for a child living with you, you had been told you were entitled to it, or you were pregnant. The payment is not means-tested. If you are unsure whether your partner paid enough National Insurance, you can still claim and the Bereavement Service will let you know.

If your partner died before 6 April 2017, you may be able to get Widowed Parent's Allowance instead. If you live in Northern Ireland, there is a different way to claim by phone or post (see nidirect). You cannot claim if you are in prison.

You do not have to use this form. You can apply online, or by phone through the Bereavement Service helpline on 0800 151 2012 (Welsh language 0800 731 0453, Relay UK 18001 then 0800 151 2012), Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. You can also call that number to get a printed form or one in large print, braille or audio.

To post the form, send it to the address printed on it: Bereavement Support Payment, Mail Handling Site A, Wolverhampton, WV98 2BS. The form also says you can take it to your nearest Jobcentre Plus office. Send the original marriage or civil partnership certificate, not a photocopy; it will be returned. If you do not have the certificates yet, send the claim anyway.

Separately, when you register the death in England, Scotland or Wales, the registrar will explain Tell Us Once, which lets you report a death to most of the public bodies that need to know in one go. You must use it within 28 days of getting your reference number.

Gov.uk lists no fee for claiming. The most you can get is a one-off payment of £3,500 plus 18 monthly payments of £350 at the higher rate, or £2,500 plus 18 monthly payments of £100 at the lower rate. Couples who lived together without marrying get the higher rate.

Claim within 3 months of your partner's death to get the one-off payment and all 18 monthly payments. Between 3 and 12 months you get the one-off payment but only some monthly payments. Between 12 and 21 months you lose the one-off payment but can still get some monthly payments.

After 21 months you usually cannot get any payments, unless the cause of death was only recently confirmed. Call the Bereavement Service helpline if that applies. If you reach State Pension age within 18 months of the death, you may get fewer monthly payments.

• Waiting to claim. Payments shrink after 3 months and usually stop after 21 months.
• Holding back the form until you have every certificate. DWP says to send the claim now and the documents later.
• Sending a photocopy of your marriage or civil partnership certificate. Send the original; it will be returned.
• Forgetting to tell your benefits office, for example Jobcentre Plus, when Bereavement Support Payment starts.
• Claiming without Child Benefit in your name when you were living together. If your partner got it instead, make a new Child Benefit claim first.

• Bereavement Support Payment guide
• How to claim
• BSP1 form and notes on GOV.UK
• Tell Us Once