DWP says lessons learned from State Pension underpayments but issues rumble on

Helen Morrissey, senior pensions and retirement analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, comments on the Public Accounts Committee discussions on lessons learned from State Pension underpayments as issues rumble on, after the met with representatives from the Department of Work and Pensions.

Key points:
  • Today representatives from DWP answered questions regarding state pension underpayments.
  • Women on less than £82 per week state pension who are, or were, married to a man with a full National Insurance record and got their state pension before March 2008 should check with DWP whether they have been underpaid.
  • The errors refer to married and divorced women as well as those over 80 who were entitled to uplifts in their state pension.
  • Some women retiring under the basic state pension system were entitled to an automatic uplift in their state pension when their husbands reached age 65.
  • In many cases this did not happen, and women had to actively claim it before the uplift was applied.
  • A recent NAO report estimated 134,000 pensioners had been underpaid over £1bn.
Helen Morrissey said:

“Today DWP officials said lessons had been learned from the state pension underpayment issue and highlighted its determination to make sure all those affected are paid by the end of 2023. However, the assertion that state pension underpayments due to official error is only 0.3% – much lower than for other benefits – will come as no comfort to the estimated 134,000 pensioners who have been underpaid.

“The situation was caused by a mixture of antiquated systems and human error and DWP have questions to answer on whether lessons have indeed been learned quickly enough given the time it has taken to address a problem that has rumbled on for many years.

“The one positive is that the system for the new state pension is more modern with increased automation and we should not see such a situation repeated in future though this system is also under immense pressure right now as staffing issues mean many people are facing delays in receiving their first state pension payment.

“If you think you may have been underpaid you should contact DWP. Women on less than £82 per week who are or were married to men who have a full national insurance record and started receiving their state pension before March 2008 should get in touch.”

 

Kindly shared by Hargreaves Lansdown

Main photo courtesy of Pixabay