Can anyone throw any light on this article that has appeared in both the Sunday Times and Sunday Express? Mainly, why the 4th November deadline?

Article reads:

"Widow’s benefits

Time is running out for men to claim widow’s benefits if their wives died before April 9, 2001. Before then the benefit was only available for women. But the European Court recently ordered payments should go to husbands too. Men who are eligible must make a claim by November 4."

Thank you.

Extra-statutory payments had been made to those who had taken their case to the European Court of Human Rights after the Willis v United Kingdom (2002) 35 EHRR 547 case. These were all cases that were instigated before the 1998 Human Rights Act came into force.
No compensation has been paid since then.
The House of Lords Decision on 5th May 2005 (Hooper-http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldjudgmt/jd050505/hoop.pdf)
was the first post 1998 Act decision to be made. We’re assuming that the 4th Nov date comes from the fact that those involved in the Hooper case have 6 months to take their case to Strasburg. If the court finds in their favour, than all “admissible” cases could be considered for an extra-statutory payment. “Admissible” is assumed to mean cases that are ongoing at that time.

The DWP have been issued with guidance regarding this, but our local office aren’t allowed to give us a copy…

Thank you Susie, we were a little confused re the 4th November deadline.

From letter, Foreign & Commonwealth Office to ECHR, dated 30.8.05:

"IN view of this and the fact that the HRA defence is only applicable in the domestic arena, Iam pleasedto inform you that the Government is now prepared to settle claims by widowers against the United Kingdom arising out of the arrangements applicable prior to April 2001 for the payment of WMA and WPt. ...

Initially only those applicants whose applications have been declared admissible by the Court, or whose claims the Government is satisfied on the facts would now declared admissible, are being offered these payments in full and final settlement of their claims for WMA and WPt. ...

Arrangements for dealing with these cases are being handled by:-

Bereavement Benefit Management Team,
Room BP9151,
Belsay House,
Benton Park View,
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE
NE98 1YX

The e-mail address is: widowers.litigation@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk"

Richard Atkinson
Wirral Welfare Rights Unit

from TUC website @ http://www.tuc.org.uk/welfare/tuc-10851-f0.cfm

'Bereavement Benefit for widowers

Since April 2001 men whose married partner has died have qualified for the new state Bereavement Benefit. Before that date widows were covered, but not widowers. This was a clear case of sex discrimination, but the government blocked cases going to the European Court of Human Rights until the British legal system was exhausted. This did not happen until 5 May this year.

We understand that claimants have only 6 months from that date to lodge their claim (if they have not already lodged a claim with the ECHR ) - that is, there is a deadline of 4th November 2005. Thousands of widowers may have a claim, and anyone who believes they may be in this position should seek advice before the deadline.

(Thanks to Alec McFadden, Wirral H&S Welfare Advice Centre, for this information.)'

On 14th October Citizens Advice issued a press release saying that men whose wives died before 9 April 2001 may now be able to make a claim for benefit. However, my client has a letter from DSS stating that any claims received will be subject to the usual late claim rules and will be disallowed because they are out of time. In May the House of Lords found that it was not discriminatory for men to be excluded prior to 2001. So my understanding is that, as the law stands, new claims will be rejected, as would a claim for any other benefit if it was made 4-5 years late.

Is there any point in my client making a claim, and if so how would I word it?

The only way to test it is to make the claim - the DWP cannot state that they are going to disallow a claim before it is made.

For hints on claiming, the press release you mention states that:

'Men whose wives died before 9 April 2001 may now be eligible for a settlement if they tried to claim widow’s benefit or widowed mother’s allowance at the time of their wife’s death.

Men who have not previously made a claim can do so, but will need to give written details of why they think they have a legitimate claim and why their claim is late.

You could try calling the CPAG helpline for further advice, as they took the original test case on this - as an adviser, you can telephone their advice line on 020 7833 4627 any weekday afternoon between 2.00pm and 4.00pm, write to them at 94 White Lion Street, London N1 9PF or email them at advice@cpag.org.uk.

several men have also come into our advice centres clutching a newspaper item, telling them that Widowed men can make claims for widower allowances if their wives died before April 2001. BUT they must do it before 4th November.
Of course, it is not as simple as that. Here is what I have found out so far.
Most of this info is from discussions with DWP HQ and local Bereavement Benefits Section.

I have their internal guidance on this and can send it you if you request it with your email address - unless Rightsnet can attach it.

Background:
House of Lords decision in Hooper and others (about 350 men) in May 2005. The lords found there is no domestic remedy (on grounds of discrimination) for these men. BUT there may be at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). And they have been given 6 months to add their names to the claims going to ECtHR. The deadline is 4 November.

These 350 men are those who have already exhausted the domestic process (gone through appeals all the way to the House of Lords) but the men who come to our centres are probably not them. Let's call them men!

Anyway, here's what those men can do.

A. fill in a bereavement benefit claim form and send/take it to Jobcentre Plus.
On the form they need to:
1. explain why they have been sexually discriminated against (obviously, this is because they were men and would have got the benefit if they had been a woman )
2. explain why the claim was not made in time (before April 2001)
3. ask for this claim to be included in the claim with the case on this issue going to European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg - following the House of Lords case: "R v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions ex Parte Hooper and others <2005> UKHL 29 6 May 2005"
They will be refused simply because their claim is over 12 month late. I am unsure about the next steps. Presumably they will have to appeal to a tribunal then appeal the tribunal decision to CA then H Lords.
The problem with this route is that they will not have exhausted all these domestic appeal stages before they then can apply to Strasbourg before 4 November 2005! Still, we shouldn't stop them getting their claims in. The Govt may change their minds and pay such people ex gratia payments!

B. Strasbourg route
I am really unsure about this but....
In addition to above (to cover all angles) I think they could also go direct to the ECtHR. It may not be the 'normal' way of doing things (they have not exhausted the domestic appeals route) but it gets their claim into Europe before 4th Nov!! To do this they should complete form:
http://www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/2DB04BF2-C8FD-4BCC-BC07-609808CF9E39/0/FormulaireENG.pdf

and send it by POST or FAX:
European Court of Human Rights
Council of Europe
67075 Strasbourg-Cedex
France
Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 20 18
Fax: +33 (0)3 88 41 27 30

Here is more advice:
http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/Applicants/Information+for+applicants/Application+form/

Some reasons why they can/can't get it:
He had to have had a wife who died before 9 April 2001
She had to have paid enough Nat Insurance contributions
He would not have got it anyway if he was over 65 when she died (as he would have been entitled to retirement pension then anyway)

But we are not 'gatekeepers'. None of these reasons allow us to stop them claiming. Its up to them.

More info:
CAB press release but apparantly they are going to update it via their own internal info system
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/scotland/whats_new_oct05_men_and_windows_benefit.htm
or
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/press-051014

BBC news
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/business/4374422.stm

Parliament paper on it (1998):
http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp98/rp98-100.pdf

I recently saw a client in this situation. On 30/09/05 he wrote to the DWP and to the ECHR to make a claim for a Widows Payment (he has never claimed previously).
The DWP replied to say he could not claim because he was out of time. The ECHR sent him an appeal form.
My advice was that the DWP were right, and there was no point in completing the ECHR form as he has no decision to appeal against. Having found and read this thread I am now not so sure...

Victor

Clive,

Can you send me a copy of the DWP's internal guidance on this matter which you refer to in your message please?

Many thanks,

Nick Gough

I've now got two cases which involve men who did not claim pre-April 01 when their wife died, heard about the Nov 4th deadline and claimed Widow's Pension and are seeking advice on an appeal against refusal of benefit.

I'm going to do an appeal on the basis that they were sexually discriminated against and it is late because they could not possibley have claimed at the time. No idea what is going to happen even reading the above thread!

Am interested in anyone else pursuing a similar course of action - or guidance as to why this course of action might fail. One of the men involved stated his decision was a refusal simply because he wasn't a woman.

Paul,

CA Information Department have issued guidance on this:

'A claim can still be made for Widow's Pension. This will be refused and should be appealed directly to the European Court of Human Rights within 6 months of the refusal. The claim will be automatically stayed pending the decision in 'White & Runkee'.

The forms can be downloaded from the ECHR website.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction Vaughan!

Richard

the email address appears not to be working - can you check this please and let me know if you have been able to send emails to this address?

ta

Shabir

DWP internal guidance mentioned above, now available here -

• Bereavement Benefit Bulletin 13/05 (12 Aug 2005)
  
• Bereavement Benefit Bulletin 17/05 (20 Oct 2005)
  
• Bereavement Benefit Bulletin 18/05 (24 Oct 2005)
  

Message to Paul W (or anyone else still pursuing new claims for widowers), how are you getting on?

Hello Fran

Unfortunately we have stopped pursuing these. We had 3 of them (all first claims in Nov 05) and all lost on basis a) out of time and b) at the relevant time they were not women!

Took each to stage of an appeal and considered the papers. Not really of much help.

At same time, Citizens Advice released an opinion though its Update newsletter stating there was no point in pursuing claims (in their opinion they would not be admitted to the European Court), so had to close all cases for lack of merit!

Paul W

We were advised by the Citizens Advice Information Department on 1st November last year. This applies to a man whose wife died prior to 9th April 2001 and who would still have entitlement to a Widows Pension if this benefit had been availbale to men:

'A claim can still be made for Widow's Pension. This will be refused and should be appealed directly to ECHR within 6 months of the refusal. This claim will be automatically stayed pending the decision in "White" and "Runkee".

We have dealt with 3-4 claims in this way and have been given case numbers by the ECHR. I'm hoping for an expenses paid trip to Strasbourg, but I doubt it somehow.

I've seen the House of Lords decision against the widowers, and the argument was very convincing. However, I understand CPAG are representing White and Runkee in the ECHR, so I am sure they will come up with equally convincing counter-arguments.

In our cases I have simply enclosed the DWP decision that the client was out of time and asked the ECHR to group the appeal with those of White and Runkee. They have been accepted. The relevant forms can be downloaded from the ECHR website.

Good luck!

Any news on when we can expect a decision on these cases?

We have three/four cases had appeal tribunals just to ensure day in court and to show we had taken up legal avenues in UK and await outcome of White and Runkee.

Presume if we get additional 'fresh' cases through all is lost-if they have missed November deadline etc

A client can still make a claim for Widow's Pension. That will be refused and should be appealed directly to the European Court within 6 months of refusal (assuming they do not make a decision in White and Runkee before that).

The November 05 deadline related to the House of Lords decision in the Hooper case, which was decided on 5th May 2005. Anyone who filed a claim with the DWP and asked for a stay pending 'Hooper' had until 4th November 05 to appply to ECHR.

'Hope that clarifies the situation.

PS. It is not necessary to have an appeal tribunal first.

What counts as a 'decision' in terms of ECHR-obviously the letter from DWP,What about the tribunal decision?We have one case where client went to tribunal then approached us-so it is more than 6 mths since got initial decision letter.

Tempted to submit and then see how things pan out.

i've recently been instructed in one of these; but on looking through the papers the deceased wife never worked therefore never paid NI therefore there would have been no entitlement in any event.

the sad thing is, neither the DWP decisin maker nor the tribunal even addressed that question ....which would be determinative irrespective of anything else.....

Thu 10-May-07 03:26 PM by shawn

... discrimination justified in relation to widow's pensions, though not to widow's payment .....

judgment @ http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/pdfs/Runkee_and_White_ECHR.doc

summary in rightsnet news @ Right of widowers to widows benefits: ECHR judgment in Runkee and White