Petition to find all women underpaid state pension

Former Pensions Minister and This is Money columnist Steve Webb has launched a petition calling on the Government to trawl its records for all women underpaid state pension, including widows and those who have already died.

More than 1,600 people have already signed the petition to the Department for Work and Pensions, which can be found here. 

Webb is concerned the Government will limit its search to married women whose husbands reached pension age after 17 March 2008 unless it comes under public pressure.  

Tens of thousands of elderly women could be owed an estimated £100million in state pension after a major blunder, which was uncovered by Webb and This is Money.  

The Government has to respond if the petition gets 10,000 signatures before 7 March 2021, and it will be considered for debate in Parliament if it reaches 100,000 signatures.

The DWP responded to Webb’s petition by repeating it is ‘checking for further cases’ and if any are found awards will be reviewed and arrears paid. Read its full statement below.

This is Money has reported on underpayments owed to married women totting up to around £112,00 in past months, and two cases involving widows who received £115,000 and £117,000 respectively. 

Hundreds of emails have poured in from readers anxious to know if they have missed out on state pension too since we began our investigation.

>>>Are YOU being underpaid state pension? Find out how to check below 

State pension underpayments: The Government has said in the past it is ‘checking for further cases’ and if any are found awards will be reviewed and arrears paid

Webb, who first brought this issue to light in a column for This is Money, says: ‘At present, the government has said that it will check its records to find one specific group of women – married women whose husband reached pension age after 17 March 2008, and whose pension should have been automatically increased when he retired. 

‘Lump sum repayments to this group of around £10,000 are quite common, and the total bill to the government just for this group is likely to run into tens of millions of pounds.

‘But there is a larger group of women who are currently being underpaid or have been underpaid in the past, including some widows and those aged over 80.’

Steve Webb: Ex-Pensions Minister initiated the state pension investigation with This is Money following a reader question to his weekly column

Married women who retired on small state pensions before April 2016 should get an uplift to 60 per cent of their husband’s payments once he reaches retirement age too.

Since 17 March 2008, the increases are supposed to be automatic, but before that women had to make a claim to get the full sum they were due.

Women who have belatedly realised this only get a one-year backpayment and increased state pension going forward, rather than full arrears.

But many were unaware of the little-known uplift and protest they were never given this crucial information by the Department for Work and Pensions. 

Some are now taking complaints about DWP maladministration to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. 

Webb says the government should check for a much larger group who may have missed out on state pension, including:

– Older married women whose husband reached pension age before 17 March 2008 and still do not know they need to claim an uplift;

– Widows who are not getting the correct rate because account has not been taken of their late husband’s contributions;

– Widows who were underpaid as married women but who received an uplift when their husbands died and are now on the correct rate;

– The widowers and adult sons and daughters of deceased married women who did not get the correct rate when they were still alive;

– Over-80s who should be getting a non-contributory ‘Category D’ pension of £80.45 a week but may be missing out.

Jack Dromey: Labour’s Shadow Pensions Minister says Government must identify all women who are underpaid state pension

Webb adds: ‘It would be quite wrong of the government to expect people to come forward one by one and claim what is rightfully theirs. This petition is designed to put pressure on the government to use its own records to find all those who have been missing out.’

The Government has previously confirmed that the heirs of elderly women who die without realising they were underpaid state pension will receive the money, but it is unclear what information they need to provide to the DWP to prove they are eligible for payouts. 

On Monday in parliament, Labour MPs pressed the Government to reveal the scale of its probe, how many women are being paid incorrectly and when they would all receive their money. 

Pensions Minister Guy Opperman sidestepped questions about the extent of the debacle, and sought to place the blame on Labour for the rule change introducing the automatic uplift in 2008 when it was in power.

When challenged about DWP staff wrongly telling women they are not entitled to any additional money, Opperman said: ‘We are improving the training and the ability of the individuals who are handling the cases.’ 

Jack Dromey MP, Labour’s Shadow Pensions Minister, said: ‘Following pressure from Labour and This is Money alongside the women affected, it is right that the Government announced an investigation into the issue of state pension underpayments.

‘It is welcome that they are seeking to rectify their errors. However, they are yet to confirm how many women have been underpaid or how they plan to track down the larger group of women who may have been affected, such as widowers and older married women.

‘Cases are still emerging of women who should have automatically become entitled to additional pension payments of thousands of pounds, but simply never received them. Many women will still not yet be aware that they have been underpaid.

‘The Government must identify all the women affected by the mistake. Every one of the women involved deserves every last penny of what they worked so hard for throughout their lives.’

What does the DWP say?

‘We are aware of a number of cases where individuals have been underpaid state pension. We corrected our records and reimbursed those affected as soon as errors were identified.

‘We are checking for further cases, and if any are found awards will also be reviewed and any arrears paid.’

It adds that married women who are already getting a state pension are required to make a separate claim to have it increased if their husband reached state pension age before 17 March 2008.

And it encourages anyone who thinks they have failed to claim a state pension increase they are eligible for to contact the department.

The DWP says that ‘interest and consolatory payments’ will be considered on a case-by-case basis and depend on individual circumstances.