Full list of older women on Basic State Pension due back payments from DWP this year
24.03.2024 - 15:43
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
A retirement expert has warned that the State Pension underpayment corrections exercise is making progress, but warns it is “slow” with “a very long way to go”. Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that new data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shows that arrears payments have been made to nearly 100,000 women due to historical errors.
Progress of the State Pension Underpayments Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practice (LEAP) exercise indicates that between January 11, 2021 and February 29, 2024, some 705,688 cases were reviewed resulting in the identification of 97,016 underpayments, owing a total of £571.6m.
It is estimated as many as 237,000 State Pensioners have been underpaid around £1.46 billion. Affected groups include women retiring under the old State Pension system (Basic). Many did not receive the State Pension they were entitled to under their husband’s National Insurance record, while others did not get uplifts they were entitled to when their husbands died.
Ms Morrissey said: “Progress is being made to rectify the large-scale issue of State Pension underpayments, but it is very slow. Just over £571m has been returned so far but with estimates suggesting the scale of underpayments could be around £1.5bn there’s still a very long way to go.
“People have the expectation that the State Pension they receive is correct but a series of errors in an already overly complicated system means that for many thousands of people this expectation has been incorrect.
“Some who queried the issue with DWP over the years were told there was no problem, and many have suffered real financial hardship as a result. These people have been let down and need resolution as soon