Jane Hunt MP asked:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the back dating time limit for claiming Bereavement Support Payment.
Claire Coutinho MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, responded:
The time limits for claiming Bereavement Support Payment are already generous in that an individual would need to be 21 months late in claiming to forfeit the entire benefit. The existing three-month time limit for the monthly instalments is consistent with other social security benefits, and for the lump sum the time limit is 12 months; we believe these are reasonable lengths of time to make a claim.
