Martin Lewis has warned how hundreds of thousands of women could be entitled to £6,000 cash back following a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) error.
Speaking during his ITV Martin Lewis Money Show Live broadcast last night, the MoneySavingExpert (MSE) founder explained how many married women and widows may have been underpaid their state pension.
Those who should check include married women, widows and divorcees who reached state pension age before April 2016, as well as women over the age of 80 on a low pension, regardless of their marital status.
The basic state pension for 2022/23 is worth a maximum of £141.85 a week - this is the figure you need to use to judge whether you're being underpaid.
More than 230,000 women are thought to have been underpaid following the DWP error, with the average payout amounting to more than £6,000.
However, you could be owed more or less than this, depending on how long you've been underpaid by, and by how much.
Explaining more about the situation, Martin said: "If the old state pension, so those ages 70 or above roughly, was less than 60% of their husband's, first of all there's some automatic top ups and backdating and they're working through it now so you'll get them.
"If your husband was 65 after March 16, 2008 and the wife's pension didn't rise when he retired and it's under 60% you may get that top up.
“There's also an automatic top up for any woman aged 80+ who was paid under £85 per week on the state pension.
"But going back to the big theme, the old state pension under 60%, you will need to claim it. There are free tools online and you can call the pension service to chat."
He concluded: "Basically, if you're a woman aged over 70 and you got a very low state pension then you need to go and do some reading on this."
How to check if you’re due backdated state pension
An online calculator has been set up by former pension minister and partner at consultants LCP Steve Webb, one of the campaigners who discovered the DWP error, to help you see whether you've been underpaid.
If the calculator indicates that you could be due money, you may need to apply and make a claim for your pension to be boosted.
MoneySavingExpert explains how these groups of people will need to make a claim:
- Women who got divorced after reaching state pension age, and haven't had their pension reassessed
- Women whose husband turned 65 before March 17, 2008 and are getting paid less than 60% of their husband's basic state pension
- Married woman on ZERO basic state pension, but might be getting a small amount of additional state pension, also known as SERPS, or graduated retirement benefit
You can call The Pension Service on 0800 731 0469 and ask for your state pension calculation to be reviewed.
MoneySavingExpert has listed the following groups of people as those who should receive their state pension top-up automatically:
- Women whose husband turned 65 on or after March 17, 2008, and are being paid less than 60% of their husband's basic state pension.
- Widow whose husband died after March 17, 2008, and were paid less than 60% of his state pension while he was alive
- Widow whose state pension didn't increase when their husband died.
- Women aged 80+ and - regardless of marital status - isn't being paid at least £85 a week in state pension
Women over the age of 80 and the vulnerable are being prioritised by the DWP as part of their identification process.
There is some overlap in these groups, so it is possible you could fall into more than one category.
