Pensioners were underpaid a staggering £530 million last year because of mistakes by government officials, new analysis has revealed. Processing errors meant just over 10 percent of all State Pension cases had underpayments, impacting around 1.3 million pensioners, reports the Express.
The average amount underpaid was more than £400 per person and came at a time when many people were struggling with the cost of living crisis. The colossal underpayments were discovered because the Government is now actively carrying out checks rather than using estimates.
This suggests underpayments could have been much higher in previous years. Ex-pensions minister Sir Steve Webb, said £530 million is an ”extraordinary” amount of money.
