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'I think I'm being underpaid on my state pension - how can I find out?'
I’m 71 and think my state pension payments might be incorrect.
I retired at the age of 55 after working as an area manager in education in South Wales for most of my career.
I’m worried I’m being underpaid and have seen that the Department for Work and Pensions has admitted it wrongly calculated some payments for women.
How do I find out if mine is correct?
Mirror Money's response
Around 134,000 people in the UK are understood to be on the wrong state pension because of failings within the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Around 90% of those affected are women and the errors have cost pensioners around £1billion to date.
But the good news is the DWP has admitted this and is now working through the cases affected and recalculating payments and issuing backpay where people have been underpaid.
The issue was down to both human errors and its outdated IT systems which resulted in some people being paid nothing.
The average person affected is owed around £8,900 back – but it’s still fixing the issue which means some people won't find out if they're affected until December 2023. By that point, we'll be two years into a cost of living crisis.
Whether your pay has been calculated incorrectly all depends on a number of factors such as how many national insurance credits you amassed during your working life, whether you are married, divorced or are widowed and of course, when you retired.
If you fall into one of these groups, you might be owed money back:
Married women whose husbands turned 65 before March 17, 2008
If you are a woman who receives less than 60% of your husband’s pension, and he turned 65 before March 17, 2008, it is likely that you are receiving a smaller state pension than you are entitled to.
These women are entitled to 60% of their husband’s basic state pension – a total of £82.56 a week – if they also reached state pension age before April 2016.
They can claim to have their pension enhanced to this level and can also backdate this enhanced payment by 12 months.
Those whose husbands turned 65 after March 17, 2008 should be automatically reimbursed for underpayments.
Widows whose pension did not rise after their husband died
As a widow, your husband’s contributions should be factored into your state pension. You should also inherit a proportion of any additional state pension (also known as Serps) that he received.
If your pension did not rise after your spouse passed away, it is likely that you are being underpaid.
Even if you now receive the correct amount of pension, you may be due a lump-sum payment if you did not receive the pension to which you were entitled while your husband was alive.
If your husband was on a full basic state pension, but your weekly state pension was less than 60% of this, you may have been underpaid.
If your husband reached state pension age on or after March 17, 2008, and the uplift to your pension should have happened automatically but did not, you could be entitled to a repayment.
Are over the age of 80
Those aged over 80 are entitled to a state pension of £82.45 regardless of how much national insurance they have paid, as long as they pass a basic residency test.
If you are over 80 and do not receive a pension of this size, you are probably owed a higher rate and backpay.
Are a divorced woman
Under the pension rules that applied under the old state pension (pre 2016), if you divorced at state pension age, you should have qualified for a full state pension.
After the rule change, divorcees were able to substitute their ex-husband’s national insurance record for their own, though only the amount he had paid in at the time of the split.
If you are a divorced but your ex-husband had a full national insurance record at the time you divorced, you may be being underpaid.
You can find out how much you are being paid by checking your bank account or annual state pension statement.
If you think you might have been short-changed out of your pension, you can use an online tool to get more clarity here.
If you think you have not had the correct state pension amount for any other reason, you should contact the Pensions Service arm of the DWP directly.
You can call on 0800 731 0469, but be aware that the lines are only open from 9.30am to 3.30pm Monday to Friday.
A DWP spokesperson told me: “Resolving the historical State Pension underpayments that have been made by successive governments is a priority for the Department and we are committed to doing so as quickly as possible.
“We have set up a dedicated team and devoted significant resources to processing outstanding cases, and have introduced new quality control processes and improved training to help ensure this does not happen again. Those affected will be contacted by us to ensure they receive all that they are owed.”
It said the repayments will include instances where an individual has passed away. Under these circumstances, any money owed will be paid to the next of kin.
If you became entitled to your husband’s state pension on or after March 17, 2008, you don’t need to take any action.
The DWP says it will contact you individually if your payments are incorrect.
Disclaimer
Money Troubles aims to be informative and engaging. Though it may include tips and information, it does not constitute advice and should not be used as a basis for any financial decisions.
All information in this post was correct at date of publication.
