I am assisting a lady who is in receipt of the old Widow's Benefit. She also gets IB (LT), of which more below, DLA (HRM/HRC) and IS mortgage interest payments.

Because she is temporarily in residential care, it's difficult to get paperwork from her home, but the most recent (Dec 08) benefits letter I've seen (an IS change of circs calc) gives the amount of Widow's Benefit as £77.03pw. Yet other information seems to indicate that this can vary from week to week. Is there anywhere I can get hold of the current rates of Widow's Benefit and the rules associated with it? I have found an old list of WB rates, but not right up to date.

Her IB (LT) is given as £36.95. My guess is that she is receiving a pension from somewhere (she is not yet of pension age), which I need to clarify with her, but can Widow's Benefit affect IB, or is there anything else that might explain this?

Many thanks.

Ken Garland

her widow's pension could be reduced because it was age-related widow's pension, or because late husband's contribution record was incomplete and less than 100%. WB and IB overlap, and overlapping benefit provisions apply. WB would normally take precedence over IB, with the IB reduced by the WB rate, and only the balance of IB payable. no reason i can think of for varying rates of WB from week to week????

can't help with the rates, i'm afraid - i haven't seen them for years and don't knbow if they're still available.

The figure you quote doesn't appear on the list I've got for 2008-9 and 2009-2010. The full rate is currently £90.70 tapering down by steps of £6.35 for the age-related figures same like bereavement benefits.

Why not write and ask them??!!

Previous years rates are on the Institute for Fiscal Studies website. I tried to post a hyperlink but it wasn't working.

Bereavement Benefits are dealt with at the Arbroath Jcplus office: 0845 608 8602 (well, they are for Scotland anyway) They are usually helpful

I do have a client with similar circumstances (WP and IB) and i couldn't see how they had calculated her total award. Someone in IB explained to me that although she was paid £33.50 WP, they calculated her IB by deducting the basic WP amount of £27.21.

there's a link to the fiscal studies pages from the benefit rates area of rightsnet toolkit

Thanks to all for your replies - I realised I would have to contact DWP about this, but I wondered if there was any independent information available.

I had seen the Inst for Fiscal Studies data, but it doesn't mention 'Widow's Benefit' as such - or is 'Widow's Allowance' the same thing? If so, then the data only goes up to 1987.

Have the Widow's Benefit rates been made equal to Widowed Parent's Allowance/Bereavement Allowance? That seems to be implied by some replies. Anyway, I still can't get the figures I have to work out to any combination of benefits, so I will have to consult DWP!

Ken Garland

hi ken

'widow's benefit' is an umbrella term, a bit like 'bereavement benefits' only more generous.

widows allowance was payable in the first 6 months of widowhood, and was at a higher rate, with a lower contribution test - intended to ease the financial transition on death of a husband. it has been replaced with the lump sum bereavement payment. succeeeding benefits were based on late husband's contributions over his working life - the same calculation used for retirement pensions...and still used for bereavement benefits i believe...gaps in the contribution record are expressed as a percentage below 100% and must be a minimum of 25%. succeeding benefits were -

widowed mothers allowance - payable to widowed mothers responsible for children, increased by allowances for each dependant child.

widow's pension, used to be payable to widows over 50 at date of widowhood - this age was later increased to 55, not sure when (1987?) or when youngest child ceased to be dependant (age at end of WMA period)

age-related widow's pension was introduced way back for widows over 40 and under 50 without children at date of widowhood, or date WMA ceased (subsequently increased to 45 - 55) -the rates increase in age steps as ariadne describes, but do not increase for the beneficiary - her rate is determined by her age at the relevant date, and is fixed - it doesn't go up each birthday...
i bet you wished you hadn't asked... : )

Thanks for the explanation - I wished I hadn't asked before I asked it!!!

Ken Garland