Martin Lewis issues 'urgent' two-month warning as parents could be owed £10,000

The money saving guru has warned of a two month cut off point

Bereaved families have been warned of a two-month window to claim back benefits potentially worth tens of thousands of pounds. Martin Lewis told how the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) changed the eligibility rules for Bereavement Support Payments and Widowed Parent’s Allowance earlier this year.

Previously, these benefits were only available to married couples and those in civil partnerships. However, now it includes couple who were living together if they had dependant children. And claims can be backdated, but Martin warned that there is a two-month cut off point.

Claims need to be made before February 8, 2024, any sent after this date may result in the person not getting the full amount of owed. Martin explained how if your partner died between April 9, 2001 and April 5, 2017, then you may be able to claim backdated Widowed Parent's Allowance, The Mirror reports.

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Widowed Parent’s Allowance has been replaced by Bereavement Support Payments. If your partner died between April 6, 2017, and February 8, 2023, then you may be able to backdate a claim for Bereavement Support Payments instead.

This is worth a maximum of £9,800. The law change for these benefits came into force this February, so if your partner died after February 9, 2023, the new rules for cohabiting couples will now apply to you.

Martin said on his ITV show last night (December 5): "This is urgent and it’s for people whose partner has died since 2001. In February 2023, the court ruled that unmarried couples are due bereavement help as well - yet, backdated claims must be made by February 8, next year. It is not long away, it is urgent because this is not simple."

Unmarried couples are only eligible for the backdated payments if they had children, and were under state pension age when their partner died. Martin continued: "What I mean by that is, you have to be eligible for Child Benefit - so that’s a child under 16, or a child under 20, in full-time education - at the time of your partner’s death.

"You don’t have to be claiming it, so if you’re a higher rate taxpayer, that doesn’t matter. You have to be eligible for it. This is for people under state pension age when their partner died, and when their partner died, you must have been married - not for backdated claims, but for claims now - and that includes civil partnership… or cohabiting and living as married.

"So if you separated from your partner, even if you had children when they died, I’m afraid you don’t count. If you’re unmarried, you must have been under state pension age on August 30, 2018."

If your partner died within the last 21 months and you didn’t have children, you may be eligible to claim a lower amount of Bereavement Support Payment worth £4,300. In order to qualify for Bereavement Support Payment, your partner must have either paid National Insurance contributions for at least 25 weeks in one tax year since April 6, 1975, or died because of an accident at work or a disease caused by work.