Thousands could be missing out on a underpayment windfall caused by a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) state pension error. It relates to benefits owed to several groups who could be missing an average of £7,203 each.
The DWP is currently scrutinising every aspect of expenditure in its most recent financial year. The details are contained in its Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24, which was released this week.
It includes underpayments of benefits owed to those who should have received them, and identified fraudulent benefits payouts. The DWP is currently looking at a state pension underpayment ‘LEAP’ exercise, aiming to identify people owed money.
Three main groups include people who are married or in a civil partnership who reached state pension age before April 6, 2016. These should be entitled to a Category BL uplift based on their partner’s National Insurance contributions.
Other underpayments include those on missed conversions – these are 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. Those who reach the age of 80 and who are receiving some state pension but ‘less than £101.55 and may therefore be entitled to a Cat D state pension of £101.55 a week are also affected.
The DWP report said: “That means people born in years before 1944 could be owed money under the third category, and people who hit pension age before April 2016, so born before 1959 or 1960 depending on your age, could qualify under the first category, reports the Express.
“Between January 11, 2021 and the end of March 2024, the checking process has identified 99,558 underpayments, with a total of £594 million owed. Current estimates of the total arrears due is £970 million to 133,000 pensioners and recognised a provision of £369 million, reflecting the outstanding amounts it still expects to repay.
“Last year it was estimated that DWP underpaid £1.17 billion to 170,000 pensioners The final total value of the underpayments will only be confirmed by the completion of the exercise.”
According to the figures, around 133,000 pensioners are yet to receive an average of £7,293 each, based on the £970 million owed to 133,000 pensioners. However, this number could rise as the review continues.
Want the latest Bristol breaking news and top stories first? Click here to join our WhatsApp group. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.