Bereavement Benefits and NI credits

My client has submitted a claim for bereavement benefits. Her husband passed away recently and this has been refused. Her husband was in receipt of NI Creds on the basis of Incapacity. Does she qualify for bereavement benefits on the basis of these credits?

This has been appealed and the DWP have responded stating that they do not dispute that he was in receipt of NI creds, however he needed to have been working for the period prior to passing away in order for his wife to qualify.

I’m confused - any assistance will be much appreciated :)

Exactly which bereavement benefits is your client hoping for? There are some slight differences.
For a bereavement payment, there must have been in any one tax year actual contributions either at class 1, class2 or class 3at a level not less than 25 times the LEL
For bereavement allowance or widowed parents allowance , there must have been actual payments in any one tax year at an earnings factor of at least 52 times the lower earnings limit. Then you need actual payments or credits in a set number of years between reaching the age of 16 and the end of the last tax year before the date of death (“the working life”). The number of years you need for this depends on the length of the working life - the longer, the more years you can afford to miss.
I can’t see any rules that mean you have to have been paying actual contributions in the last year. In fact there is an easement of this condition in the person who has died was in receipt of long-term incapacity benefit in that year.