State pensioners born in certain years are being paid up to £11,900 each after a DWP state pension mistake.
New figures have revealed that nearly 120,000 women have been underpaid on their state pensions to the tune of an average of £11,905 each by the DWP.
The Department of Work and Pensions has been in the midst of a ‘correction exercise’ since 2021 to fix the errors which primarily affected married women whose husbands reached pension age before 2008, as well as women and widows over the age of 80, so born in years before 1944.
These women were entitled to what’s known as an ‘enhanced pension’ which would have boosted their pension payments by about 60 percent, but they did not receive the money – and now the DWP is handing the rightful money back.
To qualify, your husband must have turned 65 before March 2008, so have been born before 1943.
Payouts to married women and those over 80 have now been completed by the DWP, which has seen married women paid a share of £250.6m, or £5,591 each across 45,907 women.
Women over 80 have been paid £2,202 each on average, or £68.2m divided by 33,437 women.
But as of November 2024 payments to widows affected by the missing pension cash are still ongoing.
A total of £417.2m has been paid out to 39,706 widows so far, averaging £11,905 each.
The average amount paid out in the latest round of investigations by the DWP between January 2021 and September 2024 is £6,182 per woman.
The DWP will directly contact all those affected by the error and you must respond in order to get the cash.
The DWP said: “In 2020, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) became aware of a number of individuals who had not had their State Pension increased, in accordance with the law, automatically when this should have occurred. This prompted the department to take action to investigate the extent of the problem.
“Between 11 January 2021 and 30 September 2024, the checking process has identified 119,050 underpayments, owed a total of £736 million. DWP has completed two of the three customer groups: the Cat BL and Cat D cases, as reported in the 2023 to 2024 ARA (see note 1). Progress remains on track for the widowed cases to be completed by the end of 2024.”
