Our long-term partners tragically died, leaving us as single parents navigating grief and financial hardship. Yet, we have been unfairly denied bereavement benefits just because we weren’t married. 

So, we are bringing a case to the European Court of Human Rights to seek justice for us and for other bereaved partners in the same situation.

Background

Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA) was a benefit available to parents with children after the death of their spouse or civil partner. It was available to people whose partner died before 6 April 2017, and has now been replaced by Bereavement Support Payment. 

The law previously said that to qualify for WPA, the surviving parent had to have been married to (or in a civil partnership with) their partner that passed away.  This law meant that cohabiting couples with children who weren’t married were excluded. In 2018, the Supreme Court decided that this law unjustifiably discriminated against surviving parents and their children on the basis of marital or birth status. 

As a result, in February 2023, the law changed to allow unmarried, cohabiting partners to claim WPA if their partner died. However, the new law only applies to claims from August 2018.

This means that for unmarried parents whose partners died before August 2018, they are still ineligible to claim any bereavement benefit from the date of their partner’s death until August 2018. For some people, this means they have lost out on vital financial support for them and their children worth thousands of pounds. 

Jyotee’s Story

In October 2016, my partner was tragically killed in a road traffic accident. At the time of his death, my partner and I had been living together for 12 years, and we were raising our 3-year-old son together. My partner’s unexpected death was devastating to me and my son, and it also left us in a precarious financial position. 

My partner and I had always used our combined income to support ourselves and provide for our son. When my partner died, however, I suddenly became solely responsible for providing for me and my son. I was facing redundancy at the time, which made things even harder.

I therefore applied for ‘Widowed Parent’s Allowance’, a state benefit which is usually available to bereaved parents when their spouse dies. Although my partner and I had not been married at the time of his death, we had been living together as a co-habiting couple and had been raising our child together. For all intents and purposes, we had been living as a married couple, which I believed would make me eligible for the benefit.

But the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) refused my application for WPA. They said that I was not entitled to the benefit because my partner and I were not married. I appealed their decision, but my appeal was refused. 

After the law changed to include unmarried couples from 2018 onwards, I made an application for backdated payment of the benefit from August 2018.  My application was successful, and the money I received was crucial for me and my son. But because of the time limit in the new law, I am unable to claim the money I should have been entitled to between October 2016 (when my partner died) and August 2018, which would be worth approximately £16,000. 

My son and I have been struggling financially since the day his father died. For a short while after his death, we received a bit of financial help from our wider family, but they could not support us for long. Our precarious financial position has caused me a great deal of stress and panic over the years. My son has been diagnosed with ADHD, and although I try my best to ensure he has access to activities and groups to help him manage his symptoms, these can be very expensive. My son also recently started secondary school and there was a long list of school supplies that I needed to buy for him, but for a while I was very afraid that I wouldn’t be able to afford them. 

To make matters worse, we are also now facing increases in ground rent, service charges, and building insurance at our home due to issues with cladding on the building. We never go on holiday and have to save every penny just to make ends meet.

I never intended to benefit from the welfare system if I had a choice. I had been working and paying my National Insurance contributions since 2001. When my family faced the worst possible situation, though, I thought the system would be there to help us. It feels very unfair that my child, having lost his father, is not entitled to the same financial support as another child in his position, just because his parents weren’t married. My son is the victim of discrimination. If my partner and I had been married, I would be able to access that money for my son. 

There are many reasons that people might not get married – some people do not believe in it; some see it as a curse; some worry that their relationship might go downhill in future. I do believe that marriage is important, and I think my partner and I would have got married one day, but it wasn’t the right time, and it wasn’t a priority for us. We were happily unmarried, and we were happy raising our son together. It feels so unfair that our decision not to marry should now affect my ability to provide for my son in future. That money would be so important for him to have financial security going forwards. That’s why I don’t want to let go of my claim – it’s not for me, but for my son.

Andrew’s Story

I met my late partner in 1998. We moved in together, and in 1999 we had our first child together. Our second child was born in 2001. In 2002, we got married. In 2005, our relationship broke down. I moved out of the family home, and we got divorced. In 2006, however, we patched up our differences, re-established our relationship, and I moved back into the family home. We were back together again happily living as a family. 

In 2007, my partner was diagnosed with breast cancer and secondary liver cancer. She bravely managed to fight the disease for 10 years, but sadly she died in January 2017.

Throughout my partner’s illness, our family’s financial situation had been difficult. At first, I had to take a lot of time off work on days when she was in too much pain to care for the children alone. For the four months prior to her death, I had to stop working entirely to be her full-time carer.

By the time of my partner’s death, my family’s financial position had become very difficult. I had to return to work almost immediately, but I was only able to get part-time work, as I needed to be free for school runs and also to be around to support my children through that very hard time. I had to take on debt so that I could continue providing for my family, which was very stressful.

I therefore made an application for ‘Widowed Parent’s Allowance’, hoping that this would help to secure my family’s finances. But DWP  refused my application. They said that I was not entitled to the benefit since my partner and I were not married at the time of her death, even though we had been married in the past and had been living together as a couple (as if we were married) at the time of her death. 

In July 2017, I appealed DWP’s decision and my legal case in the UK continued until very recently.  

While my case was still ongoing, the law changed so that unmarried, cohabiting partners would also be eligible for WPA. I therefore made a new application for backdated payment of the benefit from August 2018.  My application was successful, and the money I received was incredibly helpful for me and my children. However, due to the time limit of August 2018 when the law changed, I am still unable to claim the money I should have been entitled to between January 2017 (when my partner died) and August 2018, which would be worth approximately £14,000.

After all the years of financial uncertainty since my partner passed away, that money would be so helpful to me and my family to secure our finances into the future. I never expected to be let down by the benefits system, especially after my partner and I had been paying into it since we were both 16. Our children deserved to be treated the same as any other children, regardless of whether or not my partner and I were married. That’s the reason I want to continue to fight against this injustice, not only for our family but for the thousands of others in a similar position. 

How you can help

Unfortunately, we don’t have the financial resources on our own to continue with our application to the European Court of Human Rights. This is why we need your help. If we don’t raise enough funds, we may be forced to abandon the application, and won’t be able to challenge the unfair law.

We are therefore looking to raise £15,000 to fund our legal fees and pay our legal team. This money will allow us to progress with the application. If we reach this target, we will be able to continue to challenge the unfair law which means we, and many others, have not been able to access the financial support we should have been provided with.

£15,000 is a huge target and will greatly aid us with continuing the application. Anything at all you can give will be incredibly appreciated!

Thank you so much for reading, and for any help you can give with either sharing the CrowdJustice link and/or making a donation.

The Guardian and the Express recently reported on our case, which you can read here and here. Our solicitors Leigh Day have also written about our case here