The link between child benefit and bereavement benefits

14/07/25

Widowed parent’s allowance is a contributory benefit administered by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. It is a condition of entitlement to the allowance under s.39A(2)(a) of the Social Security (Contributions and Benefits) Act 1992 (“the SSCBA”) that the widowed parent must be “entitled to child benefit” in respect of a relevant child or young person. In a decision published  on Friday, the Upper Tribunal has held, allowing an appeal by the Secretary of State, that for the purposes of s.39A(2)(a) of the SSCBA, entitlement to child benefit means that a claimant must satisfy not only the substantive conditions of entitlement to that benefit in Part IX of the SSCBA, but also have made a claim for child benefit, as required by s.13 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (“the SSAA”). The SSCBA and the SSAA, which consolidated social security legislation in 1992, must be read together as if they were a single Act. That is so even if there is no dispute that child benefit would be awarded if a claim were made for it.

It follows that if the Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs (“HMRC”), who administer child benefit, make a decision terminating an award of child benefit as a result of a claimant’s failure to provide them with information, a claimant with an award of widowed parent’s allowance also ceases to be entitled to that allowance, unless and until a further claim is made to HMRC for child benefit. As there is a three-month time limit for claiming child benefit from HMRC, a failure to make a fresh claim for child benefit promptly after HMRC’s termination decision will mean that payments of widowed parent’s allowance by the Secretary of State constitute overpayments, and will be potentially recoverable by her from the widowed parent under s.71 of the SSAA.

The decision of the Upper Tribunal in Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v AE [2025] UKUT 186 (AAC) can be read here.