An error by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) means thousands of state pensioners could be in line for up to £9,500. It is thought around 134,000 people have missed out on the full sum they should have been given.
Back payments are currently being issued to those who are eligible. A historical error affected mostly women, and issues have dated back as far as 1985. It has been estimated that approximately £1billion of state pension entitlements have been underpaid, reports Lancashire Live.
Since 2021, the DWP has been taking action to rectify the issue and reunite people with their cash. Thousands of people have already been identified as being underpaid, but this is not the end of the matter. The Government states: “Between January 11, 2021, and February 28, 2022, the checking process has identified 14,239 underpayments."
Read more: DWP confirms change to Universal Credit payment date due to Jubilee Bank Holiday
Between them, the state pensioners are owed £94.3million, according to the DWP. The Department also broke down the groups which have been impacted by the back payments. Firstly, for married women, the average arrears payment was recorded as £7,399. The total amount repaid in this group - Category BL - in this period was £37.9million.
Over 80s got an average arrears payment of £4,104, and a total amount repaid of £22.5million. Widowed individuals have received average arrears payments of £9,506, and a total of £33.9million. The underpayment identification exercise is not over. Others may have been affected and have been encouraged to look into the issue.
The Department has noted cases may be checked for more than one potential cause of error. As a result, an individual state pension claim may be counted in more than one category. It added the documents have been published for the sake of transparency.
A DWP spokesperson: "The action we are taking now will correct the historical underpayments that have been made by successive governments and we are fully committed to addressing these as quickly as possible. We have set up a dedicated team and devoted significant resources towards completing this, with further resources being allocated throughout 2022 and 2023 towards the underpayments exercise."
