War widow / widowers pension

You may be entitled to these benefits if your wife, husband or civil partner died as a result of their service in Her Majesty’s (HM) Armed Forces or during a time of war. These pensions and any compensation awards are free from tax. They must have served before 6 April 2005, injuries sustained after this date are managed by the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.

 

Eligibility

One of the following must apply. Your husband, wife or civil partner:

• Died as a result of their service in HM Armed Forces before 6 April 2005;
• Died in the second world war and was a civil defence volunteer or a civilian;
• Were a merchant seaman, a member of the naval auxiliary services, or a coastguard and their death being a result of an injury or disease they got during a war or because they were a prisoner of war;
• Died as a result of their service as a member of the Polish Forces under British command during the 1939 to 1945 war or in the Polish Resettlement Forces;
• Was getting a War Pensions Constant Attendance Allowance at the time of their death (or would have been receiving it if they had not been in hospital); or
• Was getting a War Disablement Pension at the 80% rate or higher (along with the associated Unemployability Supplement).

You may be entitled to a pension if you lived with a partner as husband and wife or as a civil partner. War Widow’s or Widower’s Pension is paid at different rates depending on your age and circumstances.

 

How to claim

To claim War Widow’s or Widower’s Pension you can download a claim form, or call veterans UK on 0808 1914 218 for one to be sent to you. Send the completed form to:

Veterans UK
Norcross
Thornton Cleveleys
Lancashire
FY5 3WP

 

How to appeal

If you disagree with a decision about your claim you can appeal to an independent Pensions Appeal Tribunal.

 

How we can help

Lestons can apply for your pension on your behalf and manage any potential appeal, we can, if instructed appoint one of our excellent third-party independent financial advisors who can look at the pension market for you. Please note we make no commission from these referrals but do need clients to open a case so that we can prepare a financial brief for them. To gain our assistance you need to open a case, this is done by simply clicking on the link at the top of the page, you will then need to deposit a sum equal to one hour’s usage, upon receipt of these funds you will be assigned your personal caseworker who will telephone you to discuss the matter and make suggestions on how to proceed.

 

Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our appointed pension specialist and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.