A new report released last week by the public spending watchdog on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) accounts revealed that around 237,000 people over State Pension age have been underpaid a total of £1.46 billion. The National Audit Office (NAO) report said this was an increase of £429 million and some 105,000 older people on the DWP’s best estimate at the end of 2020-21.
The report, by Comptroller and Auditor General of the NAO, Gareth Davies, highlights that some underpayments go back as far as 1985. It also reveals that the DWP has “identified several new groups of pensioners potentially affected by underpayment, the most significant relating to Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP).
DWP has now released new guidance on how to request information about underpaid State Pension for someone who has died if you are the next of kin or executor of someone’s estate.
The guidance applies to everyone living in Scotland, England and Wales - similar guidance can be found on NIDORECT.GOV for those in Northern Ireland.
DWP has identified that some of the following people may have been underpaid State Pension:
- People who were married, divorced or widowed when they died
- people aged 80 or over when they died
This is because they did not get the automatic increase in their State Pension that they were entitled to.
Who may have been underpaid
If the person who died reached State Pension age before April 6, 2016
- You can quickly find out when someone reached State Pension age on GOV.UK, here
If they were married
They may have been underpaid if both of the following applied:
- they got less than the lower basic State Pension (also called a Category BL State Pension)
- they did not get an increase through their husband, wife or civil partner
If they were widowed
- They may have been underpaid if they did not inherit some of their husband’s, wife’s or civil partner’s State Pension
If they were aged 80 or over
They may have been underpaid if both of the following applied:
- they did not get any State Pension or got less that the amount of the over 80 pension
- they did not get the over 80 pension (also called a Category D State Pension) when they reached 80
If the person who died reached State Pension age on or after April 6, 2016
- You can quickly find out when someone reached State Pension age on GOV.UK, here
If they were widowed
They may have been underpaid if they did not inherit any of their husband’s, wife’s or civil partner’s State Pension they were entitled to.
How to find out if someone was underpaid
DWP said: “We are writing to people we know may be affected to let them know how this will be put right. But some people will not get a letter from us.
“This is because we do not hold all the information about every affected person.”
This includes where the person who has died was one of the following:
a married woman
- whose husband claimed his State Pension before March 17, 2008
- who reached State Pension age before her husband
- who did not make a separate claim for the lower basic State Pension (also called a Category BL State Pension)
someone already getting State Pension who:
- got divorced or had their civil partnership dissolved
- did not tell DWP about this
a member of a couple where:
- both had reached State Pension age
- the husband, wife or civil partner of the person who has died had not yet claimed their State Pension
If you think someone who has died may have been underpaid State Pension and you are their next of kin or executor of the estate, you should contact DWP to request information.
How to request information
You can do this on GOV.UK directly, but must have some key pieces of information to hand before you start.
You will need to provide the following information about the person who has died:
- their full name
- their date of birth
- their date of death
- their last known address, including their postcode
- the full name of their husband, wife or civil partner, if they were married or in a civil partnership
DWP said if you can also provide their National Insurance number this will help them to deal with the application more quickly.
Find out more information or request information on GOV.UK, here.
To keep up to date with the most-read money stories, subscribe to our newsletter which goes out three times each week - sign up here.
