What happens to Pension Credit when someone dies?

When someone on Pension Credit dies, or their partner does, DWP needs to be told, and what a surviving partner can get is worked out again for one person.

Nothing here has to be done in a day, and nobody expects you to manage it all while grieving. Whenever the sums start to worry you, the form on this page will have an FCA-authorised adviser telephone you about a widowed household's income, free of charge. Decisions about the benefit itself rest with DWP. This page covers England, Scotland and Wales.

Who do I tell when a Pension Credit claimant dies?

Usually one government service does most of the telling. Tell Us Once, in GOV.UK's words, "lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go". The registrar either runs it with you at registration or hands over a reference number, and you then have 28 days from getting that number to use it online or by phone. It covers a person who was living in England, Scotland or Wales, but not one living in Northern Ireland, where Pension Credit is run separately.

DWP is among the bodies it notifies, to cancel benefits such as Universal Credit or State Pension, and the local council is told about Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction. There are limits. GOV.UK says "DWP can only stop the benefits of the person who has died", so a surviving partner's own entitlement is a separate question (see the next section). Private and workplace pensions outside the public-sector schemes it contacts need telling directly; how pension schemes find out about a death explains that.

Prefer to talk to a person? GOV.UK's number for reporting changes, a partner's death among them, is the Pension Service helpline, 0800 731 0469 (weekdays, 8am to 6pm). DWP's detailed Pension Credit guide lists four deaths someone must report: the claimant, their partner, anyone who lived with them, and anyone they were caring for.

Will my Pension Credit change if my partner dies?

It may well, because you stop counting as a couple. DWP's guide gives a partner's death as one example of ceasing to be treated as a member of a couple, which ends an indefinite assessed income period (a pre-2016 arrangement for people who were 75 or over, under which some changes did not need reporting). When one ends, DWP says it may ask for details of all your circumstances and recalculate.

The weekly minimum that Pension Credit tops income up to differs for one person and for a couple. For 2026/27 DWP gives £238 a week for one person and £363.25 for two people, so the award can change even if your own income has not. Where you land depends on your income and savings; how much Pension Credit you can get sets out the sums, and who gets Pension Credit covers the tests for a claim as one person.

A survivor's pension from a workplace or private scheme counts as income, but DWP's detailed guide says Bereavement Support Payment is wholly disregarded, so ask rather than assume the award simply carries on. Whether a widow's pension is means-tested and what happens to State Pension on death deal with those. GOV.UK warns you'll have to make new claims for some benefits a late partner claimed for your family, and DWP's Bereavement Service (0800 151 2012) can check how the death affects benefits you already get; pension and savings worries suit an FCA-authorised adviser, with a return call arranged after the request form on this page is sent.

Can Pension Credit be backdated after a death?

A claim can reach back, within limits: GOV.UK says "your application can only be backdated by 3 months", meaning that an eligible person can be paid for up to that long in the first payment. DWP's claim notes list a partner dying in the last 3 months among the things to mention when you choose a past start date.

So if a claim of your own may be due, acting reasonably soon matters, though nothing else needs rushing. What is still due for the weeks around the death is something the Pension Service helpline can check against your award; for the wider money questions after a bereavement, an adviser on the call-back from this page will talk them over free.

If you travel for the funeral, DWP's guide says Pension Credit may continue for up to 8 weeks of a temporary absence from Great Britain connected with the death of a partner or close relative, only where it would be unreasonable to expect the absence to last 4 weeks or less.

Will the estate have to repay Pension Credit?

Only where a recoverable overpayment exists. Money reaching the account after a death is not automatically the estate's debt: DWP's overpayment guide says this can occur "if notification of a person's death did not arrive in time to stop a payment going into their account", and that recovery may be sought first from the bank, the representative or the next of kin.

Where a debt does exist, the same guide says DWP "becomes a creditor of the estate" and claims from it; if there is no estate, the balance is written off, subject to an exception that applies only to Universal Credit joint debts. For someone who was on an income-related benefit, it says DWP is entitled to a detailed inventory of the estate to check against what the claim declared; if every asset was already known, no further action follows unless other debts are owed. Telling DWP promptly and keeping its letters helps whoever is the executor. Pension overpayments after death goes through the process.

Is there help with funeral costs if I get Pension Credit?

Possibly. In England and Wales, a Funeral Expenses Payment needs you (or your partner) to get Pension Credit or certain other benefits, a funeral in the UK, the EEA or Switzerland, and a qualifying relationship with the person who died; a partner of the deceased may qualify. GOV.UK says it helps with burial or cremation fees, travel, some body transport and certificates, plus up to £1,000 for other costs such as the funeral director, flowers or coffin. It will not usually cover everything, and it is deducted from anything you receive from the estate, though GOV.UK excludes a house or personal things left to a widow, widower or surviving civil partner.

You must apply within 6 months of the funeral, or earlier with a funeral director's invoice or signed contract (an estimate will not do). Phone the Bereavement Service helpline on 0800 151 2012, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, or post form SF200. In Scotland, Social Security Scotland's Funeral Support Payment has replaced it; Pension Credit qualifies there too, claims run until 6 months after the funeral, and its free line is 0800 182 2222.

Carrying grief and forms together is hard. Cruse Bereavement Support runs a free helpline on 0808 808 1677, where trained volunteers will listen to anyone in the UK who is grieving.

Questions people ask about Pension Credit and a death

Can I get a death grant on top of Pension Credit?

Help with the funeral itself comes through the Funeral Expenses Payment above, or Funeral Support Payment in Scotland. GOV.UK points people to DWP's Bereavement Service to check which bereavement benefits they can get; for survivor pensions, see how to claim a widow's pension.

Do I report the death of someone who lived with me but was not my partner?

Yes. DWP's detailed Pension Credit guide says someone must tell it when a person who was living with the claimant dies, and GOV.UK lists people moving in or out of your home among the changes to report.

What if my claim stopped for a different reason?

The decision letter explains why; why Pension Credit stopped covers the usual causes and how to challenge a decision.

When the time comes to weigh up what losing a partner does to your income, the enquiry form offers a no-fee call-back, taken by an FCA-authorised adviser. Free routes remain DWP and free Pension Credit advice; for the wider picture see pension death benefits.

Sources, read 2 November 2026: GOV.UK, Tell Us Once; GOV.UK, Pension Credit: How to claim; GOV.UK, Funeral Expenses Payment (How it works, Eligibility, Make a claim); GOV.UK, Pension Credit: Report a change of circumstances; GOV.UK, Benefits after the death of a partner; mygov.scot, Funeral Support Payment; DWP, the April 2026 detailed Pension Credit guidance for advisers; DWP, PC1 Pension Credit claim form notes; DWP, Benefit overpayment recovery guide; Cruse Bereavement Support, Helpline.