Denied Bereavement Support Payment in Wales: How to Appeal

A Bereavement Support Payment rejection is not the end of the claim. The DWP turns down a significant proportion of initial applications — and many of those decisions are wrong, or are based on facts that can be challenged with the right additional evidence. If your claim has been refused, you have a legal right to challenge the decision through a structured appeals process.

Understanding why claims are rejected — and which grounds of challenge succeed — is the first step to recovering the payment your family is entitled to.

Why Bereavement Support Payment Claims Are Rejected

The DWP decision-maker considers your application against a fixed set of eligibility criteria. The most common reasons for rejection are:

Insufficient National Insurance contributions. BSP requires that the deceased paid at least 25 Class 1 or Class 2 National Insurance contributions in any single tax year during their working life. This is not a threshold you meet gradually — you need 25 qualifying weeks of contributions in one tax year. If the deceased was self-employed, employed irregularly, or had gaps in their NI record, they may fall short. The DWP checks this against HMRC records, but HMRC records are not infallible.

Relationship not recognised. The DWP may determine that the claimant was not a spouse, civil partner, or qualifying cohabiting partner. For cohabiting partners, this is the most common ground of rejection — because the eligibility rules only extended to cohabitees with dependent children following a 2023 legal ruling, and the DWP has been inconsistent in applying the new rules. If you have dependent children and were living with the deceased as though married, you qualify — regardless of whether you were formally married.

Claim submitted outside the deadline. BSP must be claimed within 21 months of the death. Claiming after 12 months means you lose the lump sum entirely. The DWP will reject any claim submitted after 21 months.

Over State Pension age. If you were over State Pension age when your partner died, you are not eligible for BSP (Bereavement Support Payment was designed as an income replacement for working-age survivors). Instead, you may be entitled to a State Pension inheritance or, if you are on a low income, to Pension Credit.

Step 1: Mandatory Reconsideration

You cannot appeal to an independent tribunal until you have first asked the DWP to reconsider the decision internally. This is called a Mandatory Reconsideration.

Time limit: You must request mandatory reconsideration within one month of the date on the decision letter. If you miss this window, you can still request it late — but you must explain why — and the DWP can refuse to accept a late request. Do not wait.

How to request: Write to the DWP Bereavement Service at the address on your decision letter (or call them) and say clearly: "I am requesting a mandatory reconsideration of the decision dated [date] to refuse my Bereavement Support Payment."

What to include: The stronger your mandatory reconsideration, the more likely it is to succeed without escalating to a tribunal. Include:

• A clear explanation of why you believe the decision is wrong — reference the specific eligibility criterion you believe was incorrectly applied
• Any additional evidence that was not submitted with the original claim: missing NI contribution records (contact HMRC to get a full NI history), evidence of cohabitation (joint tenancy agreement, joint bank statements, correspondence addressed to both of you at the same address, photos, witness statements from family or friends), evidence of dependent children (Child Benefit records)
• If the rejection was based on NI records, request from HMRC a copy of the deceased's full NI contribution history using Form CA3822 or by contacting HMRC's National Insurance helpline

Waiting time: The DWP aims to complete mandatory reconsiderations within 2 months, but it can take longer. If you do not receive a decision after 3 months, contact them.

Step 2: Appeal to the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal

If the mandatory reconsideration upholds the original refusal, you have the right to appeal to an independent tribunal within one month of the mandatory reconsideration notice. The tribunal is entirely separate from the DWP and hears the case fresh.

Appeals are managed through HM Courts & Tribunals Service. File using the online appeal portal or Form SSCS1. You will need to attach the mandatory reconsideration notice from the DWP.

What happens at tribunal: The case is usually heard by a legally qualified panel member (and sometimes a medical member if health evidence is relevant). You can attend in person, by video link, or ask for a paper-only determination. There is no cost to appeal.

The tribunal considers the law and the evidence. Unlike the DWP's internal reconsideration, the tribunal is genuinely independent. Tribunal statistics consistently show that appellants who attend their hearing (rather than asking for a paper decision) have a significantly higher success rate.

The Disability Discrimination Argument

One ground of appeal that applies specifically to a narrow but important group: if the deceased was a lifelong disabled person who was unable to work and therefore unable to build up the 25 qualifying NI contributions required for BSP, their surviving partner may have a human rights challenge.

Following legal proceedings (sometimes referred to as "Daniel's case"), the DWP has accepted that refusing BSP because a disabled person could not pay NI contributions — due to a disability that prevented employment — constitutes discrimination under Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The DWP has produced guidance acknowledging this, and mandatory reconsideration requests citing the human rights grounds have succeeded in a number of cases.

This argument applies where:

• The deceased was unable to work specifically because of disability
• The deceased did not meet the NI contribution threshold as a direct result of their disability
• The surviving partner otherwise meets all other BSP eligibility criteria (under State Pension age, married/civil partner/cohabiting with dependent children)

If this applies to your situation, explicitly cite the human rights discrimination ground in your mandatory reconsideration. If the DWP rejects this, it can be pursued through tribunal.

Cohabiting Partners: Additional Evidence Needed

Following the 2023 extension of BSP to cohabiting parents with dependent children, some DWP decision-makers are still applying the old rules or asking for a standard of evidence that is unrealistically high for a relationship that has no legal registration.

The DWP can and should accept a combination of evidence, including:

• Joint tenancy or mortgage documentation
• Shared utility bills
• Joint bank accounts or evidence that your partner supported you financially
• A declaration from a family member, friend, or neighbour confirming the cohabitation
• Evidence that both partners are listed as parents on the children's birth certificates or that Child Benefit was being claimed

Cohabiting partners without dependent children remain excluded from BSP. This is a confirmed legal position following the 2023 case, not an administrative error — the extension only covers those with dependent children.

Protecting the Backdating Deadline While You Appeal

Here is something the DWP does not make clear: if your original claim was submitted within 3 months of the death, and the claim is subsequently reversed on appeal, the backdating of the lump sum may be calculated from the original claim date — not from the appeal decision date.

Keep all dated correspondence with the DWP. Your original application date is legally significant. If you submitted the claim within 3 months of the death, that date should entitle you to the full backdated lump sum (either £3,500 at the higher rate or £2,500 at the standard rate), even if you eventually receive it many months later after a successful appeal.

Getting Help

Citizens Advice Wales provides free assistance with benefit appeals, including help completing SSCS1 forms and representing you at tribunal. In Welsh-speaking communities, Adviceline Cymru operates bilingually. Law Centres and local welfare rights organisations in Wales also provide representation.

If the DWP rejection appears to rest on a complex NI contribution calculation or a human rights discrimination argument, a welfare benefits solicitor or specialist welfare rights worker is worth consulting — many offer free initial appointments.

The Wales Survivor Benefits Navigator includes a step-by-step mandatory reconsideration template and a checklist of evidence types that the DWP and tribunal accept, along with all the key deadlines you must track through the appeals process.

See more Wales guides →