Tory ministers have been dealt a landmark High Court defeat that could hand bereavement benefits to 2,200 more families per year.
A top judge said refusing to give a £10,000 lifeline to unmarried couples discriminates against their children, just because their mum and dad failed to tie the knot.
In a damning judgement, Mr Justice Holman said the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reasoning was “wholly unconvincing” and the scheme was “incompatible” with human rights law.
He added: “The child cannot make the choice between marriage and cohabitation.”
Campaigners today demanded the DWP take swift action to right the injustice. But the government could still fight the case further in the Court of Appeal.
Parents who lose their partner before pension age can claim a higher-rate Bereavement Support Payment – worth up to £3,500, plus £350 a month for 18 months – following a Tory shake-up.
But couples must be married or in a civil partnership to qualify.
That deprives the higher-rate benefit to around 2,200 “cohabiting” couples with children each year – plus more childless cohabiting couples, who would have got the lower rate if they were married.
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Two 40-year-old dads – James Jackson from Nottingham and Kevin Simpson from Chester – challenged the policy in the High Court after they were left high and dry when their partners died.
Father-of-three Mr Jackson lost partner of 17 years Natalie in 2018, months after proposing to her.
He said it was “unfair” to be refused the benefit, adding: “Somebody who had only been married for 6 months could qualify.
“Having lived together with Natalie for almost 14 years and having three children together apparently counted for nothing.”
Father-of-two Mr Simpson met his partner Deborah when they were teenagers but she died of breast cancer in March 2018.
Her hospice advised him to apply for Bereavement Support Payment but he too was refused, plunging him into what the court called a “considerable financial struggle”.
Today’s ruling comes 18 months after the Supreme Court reached a similar ruling about the old system, Widowed Parent’s Allowance, which Bereavement Support Payment replaced in 2017.
(Image: Getty Images)
Yet despite pleas from campaigners and MPs, the DWP has still not changed the system.
The two dads’ solicitor Carla Clarke, of the Child Poverty Action Group, said: “The Government cannot justify any further inaction. It must act swiftly.
“No more bereaved children should be denied state support on the basis of their parents’ marital status.”
Alison Penny, director of the Childhood Bereavement Network, added: “It is extraordinary that the Government is still dragging its feet in redressing this historic injustice, which continues to affect thousands of grieving children and their parents.
“Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, recommendations from the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, reassurances from ministers, and the efforts of many widowed parents and campaigners, families are still waiting to hear how they will be supported.
“Action is overdue and we urge the Government to act fast.”
The lower-rate Bereavement Support Payment – paid to spouses or civil partners without children – is worth up to £4,300 over 18 months. The higher rate for those with children rises to a total of £9,800.
The High Court judge ruled Section 30(4)(a) of the 2014 Pensions Act was “incompatible” with the human rights to a private life and protection from discrimination.
Mr Justice Holman acknowledged the policy was created with the purpose of “encouraging and supporting marriage”, which is a “legitimate aim”.
But he went on: “It seems to me a wholly unconvincing reason for discriminating in the case of children and entitlement to [the benefit].”
And he said the line was “deliberately drawn” to exclude unmarried couples “and a legally significant number of others”.
A DWP spokesman said: “We will be considering the judgment very carefully.”
