State Pension mistake means DWP owes tens of thousands of people money

DWP
-Credit: (Image: Mike Kemp)


A mistake made with the state pension means the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) owes tens of thousands of people money. The mistake saw that tens of thousands of married women who were covered by the old state pension system (pre-April 2016) should be entitled to more.

Back in March 2021, the DWP announced that they would look through thousands of pension records to see if people have been underpaid. Since then, more groups of women have been identified as being underpaid and entitled to more.

There are a few groups that have been identified by the DWP themselves, but there are some groups of people that need to contact the DWP themselves to have their pensions reassessed and see whether they are entitled to more.

READ MORE: DWP PIP claimants can get free £750 'one off' top-up payment - check if you're eligible

Older woman
The mistake affects women who are or were married and of pension age pre 2016 -Credit:SDI Productions/Getty

The groups that should get their payments are some married women, widows and those aged over 80. The groups that need to reach out to have their pensions reassessed are as follows:

  • Widows whose pension did not change when their husband died – when your husband died, your state pension should have been reviewed.

  • Widows who may have been underpaid while their husband was still alive – if your husband reached pension age after March 17, 2008, and you received less than 60 per cent of his basic state pension figure

  • Divorced women and those who divorced post-retirement

  • Those aged 80 or over, who can claim a state pension of £85

  • The heirs of women whose state pension may have been underpaid

You can read more about the estate pensions on the DWP website here.

Want more from MyLondon? Sign up to our daily newsletters for all the latest and greatest from across London here.