funeral payments

The request was refused by Department for Work and Pensions.

sheila oneill

Dear Sir or Madam,

Funeral payments

Should the DWP work within the law. i.e. The law states that a partner is not in law a partner or spouse until they have co-habitated for 2 years.
Therefore if a death occurs and the co-habitee say of 6 months does not wish to arrange, claim funeral payment or pay towards the funeral should the next of kin or parent of next of kin be considered for that payment. That is if the next of kin, son, is too young and the mother meets the requirements and that there is no-one else to take responsibility.

Yours faithfully,

sheila oneill

DWP Adelphi Freedom-of-Information-Request, Department for Work and Pensions

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DWP Adelphi Freedom-of-Information-Request, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear Ms O'Neill

Please see attached response to your FoI request.

Kind regards

Central FoI Team

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Dear DWP Adelphi Freedom-of-Information-Request,

Thank you for the above reply.

If the DWP does not work according to general law (a spouse/partner cannot be considered such until 2yrs of co-habitating), then in regards funeral payments it means that a next of kin (or parent on behalf of next of kin) cannot bury their own child's father.
It seems an unjust loophole. Consideration as a partner for other social benefits while living is quite understandable but should not apply on a death.

Also it states in the application and rules on funeral payments that should a partner not take responsiblity by choice then it is acceptable for another person with an interest to apply.

Yours sincerely
Sheila Oneill

Yours sincerely,

sheila oneill

DWP Adelphi Freedom-of-Information-Request, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been received at the DWP Central FoI Team.

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Department who will respond to you direct.

Should you also have any further queries in connection with this request
do please contact us.

For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
please click on the link below.

[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/foi/

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Dear Sir or Madam,
I received a letter regarding the funeral payment but the letter stated that I have to reply by the date 2 days from now.

As any letter by post will no doubt not reach the DWP in time for an appeal, I appeal now by email against the decision to refuse my payment for funeral expenses.

I appeal on the grounds that there was no-one prepared to arrange the funeral including the carer/partner of 6 months and as the next closet person as parent of Barry Mason-Whites student sons.

Please can you forward this appeal.

Yours sincerely,

sheila oneill

DWP Adelphi Freedom-of-Information-Request, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been received at the DWP Central FoI Team.

We will forward your request to the relevant information owner within the
Department who will respond to you direct.

Should you also have any further queries in connection with this request
do please contact us.

For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
please click on the link below.

[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/foi/

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CONTACT-US, Department for Work and Pensions

Dear Ms Oneill,

Your appeal request has been forwarded to the Jobcentre Plus Contact Us
team in Sheffield to handle. However you have not provided enough
details for us to forward to the correct Jobcentre. Could you please
respond to this email giving your full address, postcode and the name of
the office that wrote to you. We will then forward your appeal on as a
matter of urgency.

For future reference it would be advisable from a security point of
view, not to use a public website for personal benefit enquiries. Also
the DWP Freedom of Information email facility is not appropriate for
benefit enquiries either, just for Freedom of Information requests.

The Jobcentre Plus Contact Us facility is available for general
enquiries and maybe more appropriate for you. The link to it is provided
below.

http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Abou...
eSearch.aspx?type=1&name=Local%20Office

Regards

Contact Us team
Sheffield

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Dear CONTACT-US,

In reply to your email, dated today 17th June.

Please forward my appeal as stated re: non payment of funeral expenses.
My address is 52 Flatt Road Chichester West Sussex. PO18 8SJ
The office that sent me the letter is:-
Southampton
HKS Bowback House
299 Silbury Boulevard
Milton Keynes
Buckinghamshire
MK9 1NR

Yours sincerely,

sheila oneill

CONTACT-US, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an auto-reply. Please note that your email has been sent to a
central team in Jobcentre Plus, not to your local Jobcentre or Jobcentre
Plus office.

We regret we cannot guarantee a personal response if your question has
been answered on our [1]Frequently Asked Questions page or the other parts
of our website mentioned below. Please check these carefully.

National Insurance Numbers - to apply for a National Insurance number, you
should contact the National Insurance appointment booking line on 0845
6000 643. For advice on replacing lost or stolen cards, and changing
personal details on your card, together with other queries about National
Insurance numbers, please ring the National Insurance Registration
Helpline on 0845 915 7006

For advice about your benefit claim or benefits you may be entitled to and
how to claim them, or for advice on looking for job or training
opportunities, please follow the links from the [2]Homepage of the
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If you are a student, or about to leave school, college or university,
please also follow the links from the Home page for advice on benefits,
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We will send your enquiry on to the most relevant office. They will aim to
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CONTACT-US, Department for Work and Pensions

Dear Ms oneill

Thank you for your email.

Your email had today been forwarded to your local Jobcentre Plus
District Manager's office for action.

They will contact you ASAP regarding your appeal request.

Regards

Sophie Nawaz
'Contact Us' Emails
Jobcentre Plus Secretariat

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CONTACT-US, Department for Work and Pensions

Thank you for your further enquiry. I note that it was not a request for
an internal review of my decision of 9 June 2009, and as such will be
dealt with as a general enquiry.

I am not aware of any "general law that a spouse/partner cannot be
considered as such until 2 years of co-habiting".

A Private Members' Bill on cohabitation was discussed in the House of
Lords on 30 April 2009. The Bill is intended to provide certain
protections for persons who have lived together as a couple for a
minimum of two years, or who have a child together. However, there are
several stages the Bill must pass through before becoming legislation
and this particular Bill is in the very early stages. As such it is not
currently law for the United Kingdom.

As I explained in my reply of 9 June, under the Funeral Payment
legislation, if there is a surviving partner at the date of death,
no-one else will be entitled to help from the Social Fund by way of a
Funeral Payment. This is not a "loophole", it is the policy intent that
where there is a surviving partner they will be the only person eligible
for a funeral payment. If they do not choose to take responsibility for
the funeral then no one is entitled to a funeral payment. The Department
is entitled to define in the legislation who is classed as "a partner"
and what constitutes "a couple" and has done so. There are no plans to
change the policy or legislation at the present time.

The notes to the claim form and the guidance on the Jobcentre Plus
internet website explain what we mean by "partner" and advise that you
cannot get a payment as a close relative or close friend of the deceased
if the deceased had a partner when they died. Please note that your
belief that the application and rules allow "another person with an
interest to apply" when the partner does not take responsibility for the
funeral is not correct.

Regards

'Contact Us' Emails
Jobcentre Plus Secretariat

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Dear CONTACT-US,
Thankyou for the letter dated 17th July.
I will forward the letter to the solicitor in Wills and Probate that dealt with the issues of BMW's death.
It was he that advised me of the law concerning spouse or partner and that she Mrs MK would not be considered such unless she resided with the deceased for 2 years prior to his death, which she did not.

Yours sincerely,

sheila oneill

CONTACT-US, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an auto-reply. Please note that your email has been sent to a
central team in Jobcentre Plus, not to your local Jobcentre or Jobcentre
Plus office.

We regret we cannot guarantee a personal response if your question has
been answered on our [1]Frequently Asked Questions page or the other parts
of our website mentioned below. Please check these carefully.

National Insurance Numbers - to apply for a National Insurance number, you
should contact the National Insurance appointment booking line on 0845
6000 643. For advice on replacing lost or stolen cards, and changing
personal details on your card, together with other queries about National
Insurance numbers, please ring the National Insurance Registration
Helpline on 0845 915 7006

For advice about your benefit claim or benefits you may be entitled to and
how to claim them, or for advice on looking for job or training
opportunities, please follow the links from the [2]Homepage of the
Jobcentre Plus website.

If you are a student, or about to leave school, college or university,
please also follow the links from the Home page for advice on benefits,
jobs or training.

We will send your enquiry on to the most relevant office. They will aim to
reply to you within 10 working days of receiving your enquiry. If your
enquiry is urgent please see the contact advice on the benefits, jobs or
employers sections of the website.

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sheila oneill left an annotation ()

Final outcome is that DWP do not go with the law as given by a Wills and Probate Solicitor. i.e. A spouse is not considered a spouse until that couple has resided together for 2 years or more.
The DWP applies the rule that a spouse is considered such the moment they share a property whether or not that person is a carer or partner and or only shared the property for more than 3 days.
DWP have not contacted me since the last reply on this site.