War Widows or War Widowers Pension: Supplementary Allowances
Information about War Widows or Widowers Pension Supplementary Allowances.
Overview
If you are receiving a War Widows or Widowers Pension (WWP), you may be entitled to extra allowances.
Supplementary Pension
If the veteran was discharged from service before 31 March 1973, you may be entitled to a Supplementary Pension. The pension is automatically paid to compensate eligible survivors of individuals who served before this time as they do not benefit from the improvements made from that date to occupational survivors’ pensions under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS).
Age Allowance
Age Allowance is paid to eligible War Widows or Widowers automatically at age 65. We increase this allowance at age 70 and 80.
Temporary Allowances
We may pay you Temporary Allowances if your husband or wife had Constant Attendance Allowance (CAA), Unemployability Supplement (UnSupp) or had underlying entitlement to UnSupp with Allowance for Lowered Standard of Occupation (ALSO). You can only have this allowance for 26 weeks after your husband or wife dies. We will pay you this allowance based on the rate of your your husband’s or wife’s pension. If your husband or wife was getting some allowances, we will use them to work out how much we can pay you. The amount of money we can pay you is normally more than a WWP.
Child allowance
Children may be entitled to Child Allowance if their parent’s death was a result of his or her service. Child Allowance may be paid with WWP or to a parent or guardian. This allowance usually stops at age 16. However it may be paid for them over this age if the child is still going to school, college, university or is in an apprenticeship. If you want to apply for the allowance after the child is 16, contact us for a claim form.
Rent Allowance
We can pay Rent Allowance with a WWP if you are maintaining a home for a child.
If you are eligible for Child Allowance, Rent Allowance will be paid for as long as you are eligible and will continue to be paid for 26 weeks after the Child Allowance stops.
If you disagree with a decision
Information on what to do if you think the decision is wrong
Changes in circumstances
You must let us know immediately about any changes in your circumstances so that we can make sure that you are getting the right amount of money.
If you need help
If you have any questions, contact Veterans UK.
This guidance provides general information only. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate, but it is not a full and authoritative statement of the law. The scheme rules are the authoritative document.