Concern over state pension errors for widows

Some people who are widowed when they retire may not receive part of their state pension, a former minister has claimed.

Various Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reviews have taken place since 2021 to correct underpayment of state pensionmainly to women, including widows and divorcees.

Sir Steve Webb, partner at pensions consultancy LCP and a former pensions minister, said a new group receiving the new state pension and widows and widowers reaching retirement age may also have deficits.

The DWP said it wanted to make sure everyone received the rights they were entitled to.

Sir Steve investigated the cases of four people who received no inherited state pension when they retired.

However, errors were found in all cases and larger amounts and arrears have now been paid, he said.

In general, the new group of concern appears to include people who are widowed or widowed at the time they claim their new state pension and whose deceased spouse reached state pension age before 6 April 2016 or died before 6 April 2016.

The exact amount of inherited state pension depends on individual circumstances, including previous employment status and other pensions.

The move comes as part of ongoing efforts to address state pension underpayments, which have so far seen more than £280 million paid in arrears to around 23,000 widows or widowers who wrongly missed out on state pensions inherited from a deceased husband, wife or civil partner.

Sir Steve said: “After spending years checking hundreds of thousands of historical state pension calculations for errors, one would hope that the DWP would ensure new claims are processed correctly.

“In some cases, the DWP appears to have failed to automatically add any inherited state pension to which he was entitled from a deceased partner.”

He said thousands of people could potentially be affected.

A DWP spokesperson said: “We want to make sure pensioners get all the support they are entitled to and have a tool to help them understand what state pension they may inherit.

“Delays in paying a customer’s state pension can occur when all the information we need is not provided.

“Once we have the necessary documentation, we will review the customer’s claim as soon as possible.”