Carer's Allowance After Death: Bereavement Run-On and What Happens Next

The 8-Week Run-On Payment

When the person you care for dies, Carer's Allowance can continue for 8 weeks from the Sunday after the death, or from the date of death if it was a Sunday. Your payment may still be reduced by an overlapping benefit. The standard rate is £86.45 per week in 2026/27.

If you receive Carer Support Payment in Scotland, the run-on is 12 weeks when the cared-for person dies on or after 15 March 2026. The earlier 8-week rule applies when the death was before that date.

The run-on is designed to give you time to adjust. It recognises that losing someone you cared for full-time is a major life change, and that your financial situation — including other benefits linked to your caring role — will take time to reorganise.

You should still report the death to the Carer's Allowance Unit (or the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland) as soon as you can. Reporting the death does not stop the run-on; DWP should apply it automatically.

What Stops After the Run-On

Once the 8-week run-on ends, your Carer's Allowance stops. Along with it, any means-tested benefits that included a carer premium or carer addition will be reassessed — this includes Universal Credit's carer element, the Housing Benefit carer premium, and the Pension Credit carer addition.

If you were receiving Universal Credit with the carer element, your UC will be recalculated without it. The loss of both Carer's Allowance and the UC carer element can be a significant drop in income, so it is worth checking whether you qualify for other UC elements or a higher work allowance.

Reporting the Death

You can report a death to the DWP Tell Us Once service, which notifies multiple government departments — including the Carer's Allowance Unit — in a single step. The registrar will explain how to access Tell Us Once when you register the death. Alternatively, contact the Carer's Allowance Unit directly by phone or through the GOV.UK change of circumstances service.

In Northern Ireland, report the death to the Bereavement Service.

Benefits You May Be Able to Claim

After the person you cared for dies, you may be eligible for:

• Bereavement Support Payment — if you were married, in a civil partnership, or living together as if married, and your partner met the National Insurance contribution condition or died because of a work accident or work-related disease. If you were living together as if married, you must also have been pregnant or getting, or entitled to, Child Benefit for a child living with you. This is a tax-free lump sum plus up to 18 monthly payments
• Universal Credit — if you are of working age and your income has dropped, you can make a new claim or your existing claim will be reassessed
• New Style ESA — if you have a health condition or disability that limits your own ability to work and you have enough NI contributions
• Pension Credit — if you are over State Pension age and your income has fallen below the guarantee credit threshold

The carer premium or carer addition you received through means-tested benefits will end, but you may qualify for the disability premium or a higher personal allowance depending on your own circumstances.

NI Credits and Your State Pension

Your NI credits from the period you received Carer's Allowance remain on your record permanently. They do not disappear when your award ends. If you are now of working age and not working, consider whether you need to claim Carer's Credit or pay voluntary NI contributions to avoid a gap in your pension record going forward.

Our Carer's Allowance Claim Guide covers the run-on rules and includes a change-reporting log that helps you track which agencies to notify and by when, so nothing falls through the cracks during an already difficult time.

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