Martin Lewis has warned there are “hundreds of thousands” of women over 70 who may have been underpaid State Pension by as much as £6,000. The financial journalist is urging married women and widows in particular to check if they are due a back payment from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
During a special pensions edition of The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, the consumer champion said: “There are hundreds of thousands due an average of £6,000 back in underpaid State Pensions because of a former DWP error. Married women and widows may have been underpaid. If the old Basic State Pension, so this is for those aged roughly 70 or above, was less than 60 per cent of their husband’s.”
But he added that it’s a complicated topic to cover and explained how there are other factors to take into account, but that DWP are working through the cases and money will be paid automatically.
Martin said: “If your husband was 65 after March 16, 2008 and the wife’s State Pension didn’t rise when he retired and it’s under 60 per cent, you may get that top-up.”
He also shared how there are free tools online at GOV.UK to work out if you are due a top-up, but the quickest way to find out if you are eligible for a State Pension back payment is to call the Pension Service.
The best number to call is 0800 731 0469 but full contact details can be found on the GOV.UK website here.
Martin explained you should make a claim if:
- Your husband turned 65 before March 17, 2008 and you are paid under 60 per cent of his State Pension
- You got divorced after retirement and your State Pension is less than your ex-husband’s
He said: “These examples can be backdated sometimes, but only for up to one year.”
He added that there is an automatic top-up for “any women aged over 80 who received less than £85 per week from their State Pension”.
“Basically, if you’re a woman aged over 70 and you’ve got a very low State Pension then you need to do some reading on this,” he told viewers.
Co-presenter Angelica Bell shared one viewer’s success story. Virginia connected the show by email to share how she had received an underpayment of nearly £8,500 from DWP.
Virginia wrote: ‘Martin told us that the DWP had made a payment error to retired women whose pension was not 60% of their husbands pension. I contacted DWP and received a back payment amount of £8,474. Thank you so much, it is going to be a big help to us during the increase in energy prices.”
The most recent report published by the National Audit Office on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) accounts for 2021-22 was released in October last year and revealed that around 237,000 older people have been underpaid their State Pension by a total of £1.46billion.
However, during a formal meeting with the Work and Pensions Committee in January, DWP indicated that it has identified a further 100,000 potential underpayments during its ongoing correction exercise.
Permanent Secretary at DWP, Peter Schofield, told the cross-party committee of MPs, chaired by Sir Stephen Timms: “We have found more cases of underpayment.”
He explained that due to a change in the scanning system during the exercise, a further 100,000 “potential” underpayments have been identified, which means that the sample of State Pension cases DWP will now look at for errors is 700,000 instead of 400,000.
Mr Schofield said he thinks it could now take an extra year to complete the exercise given the current run-rate.
Who may be due back payments for State Pension?
There are six particular groups strongly encouraged to contact the pension service to see if they could be entitled to more State Pension.
- Married women whose husband turned 65 before March 17, 2008 and who have never claimed an uplift to the 60% rate
- Widows whose pension was not increased when their husband died
- Widows whose pension is now correct, but who think they may have been underpaid while their late husband was still alive, particularly if he reached the age of 65 after March 17, 2008
- Over-80s who are receiving a basic State Pension of less than £80.45
- Widowers and heirs of married women , where the woman has now died but was underpaid state pension during her lifetime
- Divorced women , particularly those who divorced after retirement, to check that they are benefiting from the contributions of their ex-husband
How to check if you are affected or make a claim
A phone call to the pension service is the quickest way to find out if you are eligible for a State Pension refund.
The best number to call is 0800 731 0469 but full contact details can be found on the Gov.uk website here.
A DWP spokesperson said: “The action we are taking now will correct historical underpayments made by successive governments. We are fully committed to addressing these errors, not identified under previous governments, as quickly as possible.
“We have set up a dedicated team and devoted significant resources towards completing this, with further resources being allocated throughout 2023 to ensure pensioners receive the support to which they’re entitled.”
State Pension payment rates 2023/24
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt recently confirmed that the Triple Lock will be used to uprate the State Pension next year. This guarantees that State Pensions increase by September’s inflation figure, wages or 2.5%, whichever is higher.
The guarantee means that retirees are heading for a 10.1% increase to the State Pension from next April.
Full New State Pension
You are eligible for the New State Pension if you are:
- a man born on or after April 6, 1951
- a woman born on or after April 6, 1953
New State Pension payment rates
- Weekly rate: £203.85, an increase of £18.70 from £185.15
- Four-weekly rate: £815.40, an increase of £74.80 from £740.60
Basic State Pension (Category A or B)
You are eligible for the Basic State Pension if you are:
- a man born before April 6, 1951
- a woman born before April 6, 1953
Basic State Pension payment rates
- Weekly rate: £156.20, an increase of £14.35 from £141.85
- Four-weekly rate: £624.80, an increase of £57.40 from £567.40
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