Concern over state pension errors for widows

Some people who were widowed when they retired could be missing out on some of their state pension, a former minister has claimed.

Various reviews by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have been taking place since 2021 to correct underpayment of the state pension, primarily to women including widows and divorcees.

Now Sir Steve Webb, a partner at pensions consultancy LCP and former pensions minister, has said a new group receiving the new state pension and widowed when they reached pension age could also have shortfalls.

The DWP said it wanted to ensure everyone received their correct entitlement.

Investigations ongoing

Sir Steve has investigated the cases of four people who were not awarded any inherited state pension when they retired.

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

In general, the new group prompting concern appears to include those who are widows or widowers at the point when they claim their new state pension and where either the spouse who has died reached pension age before 6 April 2016 or where they died before 6 April 2016.

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

It comes during ongoing exercises to correct state pension underpayments which have so far seen more than £280m paid in arrears to around 23,000 widows or widowers who had wrongly missed out on inherited state pension from a late husband, wife or civil partner.

Sir Steve said: "Having had to spend years checking hundreds of thousands of historic state pension calculations for errors, you would hope that DWP would be making sure that new claims are handled correctly.

"In some cases DWP seems to have failed to automatically add any inherited state pension they were due from a late partner.”

He said thousands of people could potentially be affected.

A DWP spokesperson said: "We want to ensure pensioners receive all the support to which they are entitled and have a tool to help them understand what state pension they can inherit.

"Delays can occur to a customer's state pension award when not all the information we need is provided.

"Once we have the necessary documentation, we will then revise the customer's claim as soon as possible."