Some 100,000 people across the UK could be entitled to up to £6,000 cash back due to an error by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) according to Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis. The financial guru has now urged Brits to make a claim.
As Martin took to his 90-minute long show on ITV on Tuesday, February 21, he implored people to act now. He explained on The Martin Lewis Money Show Live: "Make sure you look this up if it smells like it is relevant to you or someone you know. There are hundreds of thousands due an average of £6,000 back in underpaid state pensions because of a former DWP error."
Martin added that the sector of the community that may have been underpaid included: "Married women and widows", but added that "It's complicated."
READ MORE: Nottingham tram live updates as 'significant issue' halts services
The consumer champion went on to say that "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"
In the ITV show, which was reported by Liverpool Echo, Martin said: "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."
As the show continued, Martin went on to advise that some claims can be backdated by up to a year even if the woman has since died. He said: "It's way too complicated to spend too long on so go and do your reading if you may be in this category.
"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."
READ NEXT
