 confirmed that retirees were underpaid by more than £1billion in total. The DWP has been contacting those affected but some could still slip through the netCredit: PA And shockingly, some of these underpayments go as far back as 1985. The DWP has been contacting those affected by the errors, mostly women who are widowed, divorced or who have some of their entitlement based on their husband's pension contributions. But many people could still be missing out on significant sums because there is little guidance for those concerned they are being underpaid their state pension. The news comes after a probe by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found that there is still a risk that errors leading to state pension underpayments could happen again. And a new report released today by the PAC warns that the 237,000 figure could be even greater because the DWP "does not know the full extent of the issue". The report said: "Efforts to correct the systemic underpayment of state pension are too slow to meaningfully put things right", and "will be too little, too late for many affected pensioners". Those affected by the error identified by the DWP are pensioners who first claimed the state pension before April 2016. These pensioners were also unlikely to have a full National Insurance record. They should have received increases to the basic state pension but didn't due to an error that the National Audit Office has blamed on complex rules and outdated IT systems that require claims to be made manually instead of being automated. But some who have since passed away and their families may never get what they are owed. Who is affected by state pension underpayments? Around 237,000 retired stay-at-home mums may have missed out on a pension hike when their husbands retired. Their payments should have risen to 60% of their husband's basic state pension,){kind=link}
THOUSANDS of pensioners are owed money back after errors meant that they’ve been underpaid.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) confirmed that retirees were underpaid by more than £1billion in total.
And shockingly, some of these underpayments go as far back as 1985.
The DWP has been contacting those affected by the errors, mostly women who are widowed, divorced or who have some of their entitlement based on their husband’s pension contributions.
But many people could still be missing out on significant sums because there is little guidance for those concerned they are being underpaid their state pension.