Over 40,000 households across Scotland and the UK are expected to receive an average of £8,900 by reclaiming the underpaid State Pension payments of deceased relatives.
Approximately 237,000 State Pension claimants have been underpaid the benefit, totalling nearly £1.5 billion, as a result of an error made by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). It comes as the UK Government department has been investigating and correcting underpayments.
However, as reported by The Mirror, a large number of State Pension claimants passed away before they were given the money they were due. In response, the DWP has created a website that can help relatives find out if their family members were owed money.
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On average, the amount of money that is due is £8,900 per claimant, but some may be owed over £40,000. The DWP has warned, though, that only six out of 10 eligible claimants will be able to be traced through the website.
A spokesperson stated: "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.”
How do I make a claim?
In order to use the service and see if you are owed money that was due to be paid to a deceased relative, you will need to have the following information about them:
- 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
According to the DWP, if you have access to their National Insurance number, this will speed up the application process.
Why have State Pensioners been underpaid?
The error affected individuals claiming the 'old' State Pension, which is paid to those who reached the State Pension age prior to April 6, 2016. An error at the DWP meant that many pensioners claiming the benefit did not receive a perk specific to the old-style State Pension, dating all the way back to 1985.
While the UK Government department is in the process of revisiting the affected cases and correcting the mistake, data from the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed that the problem is worse than previously thought.
The DWP had believed that 134,000 pensioners had been underpaid approximately £1 billion, but the new figures reveal that the true number is much larger — with at least 237,000 claimants being underpaid nearly £1.5 billion.
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