Everything about calling DWP Bereavement Service from abroad
What the Bereavement Service does, and why someone abroad may need it
The Bereavement Service is the Department for Work and Pensions helpline for the practical side of a death. You contact it to stop the benefits and entitlements of the person who died, including their State Pension. It also checks whether you can get help with funeral costs or other benefits, and it takes claims for Bereavement Support Payment by phone. For anyone outside the UK, GOV.UK gives two pointers. If you are abroad, you apply for Bereavement Support Payment through the International Pension Centre. And if the person who died was living abroad, the Tell Us Once guide says to contact the International Pension Centre instead.
Why a UK freephone number can fail from abroad
0800 151 2012 is a UK freephone number. The 0800 range is priced and routed for UK networks. Dialled from another country as +44 800 151 2012, it becomes an international call, and some foreign carriers may not connect it. Where the call does go through, your own provider may charge for it. For people who are abroad and want to claim Bereavement Support Payment, GOV.UK gives an ordinary UK number instead, the International Pension Centre on +44 (0) 191 206 9390.
What Losali does with the Bereavement Service line
Losali is an independent dialler that runs in a web browser. Losali's telecom carrier connects the call to 0800 151 2012, so it does not depend on whether your local network connects UK freephone numbers. There is no app to install and no UK SIM card to buy. Minutes are prepaid, with no subscription, and the rate is shown before you dial. The panel at the top of this page gives the current state of the line.
Two routes in: Tell Us Once, or the phone
When someone dies in England, Scotland or Wales, the registrar usually explains Tell Us Once and gives you a reference number. With it, one report reaches most government organisations at once, among them DWP, HMRC, the Passport Office and DVLA. It still applies if the person lived in Great Britain and died while temporarily abroad, on holiday or a business trip. It cannot be used if they lived in Northern Ireland or were living abroad permanently. Without a reference, you contact each organisation yourself. For DWP, that means the Bereavement Service. Bereavement Support Payment itself can be claimed online, by phone or by post (the paper claim form is BSP1).
The Bereavement Service and the International Pension Centre
0800 151 2012 is free from UK phones, but outside the UK some foreign networks may not connect it, and your own provider may charge for the call. It is the line for reporting a death to DWP and claiming by phone. The International Pension Centre is the route GOV.UK lists under Bereavement Support Payment for people who are abroad, and for deaths of people who were living abroad. The centre also handles other bereavement benefits, such as Bereavement Allowance and Widowed Parent's Allowance. Both keep the same hours: Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
- Your National Insurance number and bank details.
- The date your partner died and their National Insurance number.
- Any Tell Us Once reference the registrar gave you.
- A short list of the questions you want to ask.
- The time in the UK, as the line opens Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Deadlines and practical tips
Time matters with Bereavement Support Payment. GOV.UK says to claim within 3 months of your partner's death to get the full amount: the one-off payment and all 18 monthly payments. You usually have to claim within 21 months. From abroad, the International Pension Centre says you can ask for a call back to reduce the cost of calling, and it offers interpreter services. Relay UK and a British Sign Language video relay service are listed for the Bereavement Service. Note the date of each call and what you were told, in case you need to ring again.
What kind of number is this?
Freephone 0800 / 0808. Free to call from inside the UK. With Losali the call is billed at €0.99/min, per whole minute, prepaid, and the price is shown before the call starts.