The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is “on track” to wrap up the due backdated State Pension underpayments worth an average of £5,931 for two groups before the end of this month.
Around 12.6 million people are in receipt of the State Pension and while the majority of payments are correct, a few have received less than they should from the department.
Earlier this week, Pensions Minister Paul Maynard MP affirmed, in a written response to Labour MP Dr. Rosena Allin-Khan, that the DWP is progressing as planned to finalise the review for Category BL and Category D cases by the end of 2023.
Consequently, married women or those in civil partnerships (Category BL) and individuals over the age of 80 (Category D) will see any inaccuracies in their State Pension awards rectified, with corresponding arrears disbursed to them.
Dr Allin-Khan asked the DWP about the progress it has made in rectifying errors in state pensions.
Mr Maynard explained: “The overall rate of State Pension underpayment due to official error remains low as a proportion of expenditure (0.5 percent in 2022/2023). Where errors do occur, we are committed to fixing them as quickly as possible.
“The Department of Work and Pensions is currently progressing Legal Entitlement and Administrative Practice (LEAP) exercises to rectify errors in the State Pensions caseload. Our priority is to ensure that everyone receives the State Pension payments to which they are entitled.”
The latest statistics released by the DWP regarding the advancement of case reviews for potential underpayments reveal that from January 11, 2021, to October 31, 2023, the examination process has detected 82,323 underpayments amounting to a total of £497 million.
Additionally, the data highlights that 595,964 State Pension awards underwent review, with average payouts varying between £2,245 and £12,383.
The DWP Minister continued: “DWP is on track to complete the exercise for Category BL and Category D cases by the end of 2023.
“The Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) corrections activity started in autumn 2023 with HMRC sending letters to potentially affected customers, who are invited to make a claim for missing HRP.
“Once a customer’s National Insurance record has been corrected, DWP will process any State Pension changes to ensure ongoing payments are correct and any arrears are paid as quickly as possible. Updates on progress will be communicated as the exercise progresses.”
Category BL (Cat BL) – People who are married or in a civil partnership who reached State Pension age before April 6, 2016 and should be entitled to a Category BL uplift based on their partner’s National Insurance contributions.
Missed conversions – People who have been widowed and their State Pension was not increased to include any amounts they are entitled to inherit from their late husband, wife or civil partner.
Category D (Cat D) – People who reach age 80 and who are getting some Basic State Pension but less than the £85 (in 2022-23) and may therefore, subject to satisfying the appropriate residency conditions, be entitled to Cat D State Pension of £85 a week.
