The amount you receive from your state pension can vary and there are years in which it automatically increases for everyone who is eligible. However, in 2020, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) realised that there was a sizable number of individuals who did not have their state pension raised automatically.
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An administrative error that has now led to underpayments worth £492 million.
According to Liverpool Echo, new data from the department has revealed that between January 11 2021 and October 31 2023, there were 82,323 underpayments.
The average payment per person ranges between £2,245 and £12,383.
However it should be known that not all older Britons have been underpaid. Here are the groups of people who may have been affected by the administrative errors.
Have you been affected?
The people who may be due a payment from the DWP include the following:
- Married women
- People in a civil partnership
- Widows
- Brits over 80
As reported by The Express, DWP owes payments to those under these three categories of underpayments:
1. LEAP exercise
The Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practice (LEAP) exercise was put in place as a process to correct all underpayments. It caters to people in Category BL: those who are married or in a civil partnership and reached pension age before April 6, 2016.
It also includes people who were widowed but did not have their state pension increased to include amounts they inherited from their spouse or civil partner.
And lastly, it applies to those who have reached the age of 80 and have been getting less than £85 in basic state pension in 2022 and 2023, and can be entitled to a state pension of £85 a week.
This exercise is set to be completed by the end of 2024, which means you could receive your due payment next year.
2. Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) cases
HRP was a scheme that was created to protect parents' and carers' pensions. It was given automatically if between April 1978 and 5 April 2010 you were claiming child benefit or income support, because you were taking care of a sick or disabled person and hence were unemployed.
The HRP was then replaced by National Insurance (NI) credits in 2010. In the process, HRP had to be mentioned in the NI record, but unfortunately that has not been the case for many, particularly women in their 60s and 70s.
The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is now using NI records to identify these people and repay their HRP amounts between 1978 and 2010.
3. National Insurance Credits
Finally, people who were receiving Universal Credit, but did not correctly have their National Insurance Credits reflected on their National Insurance, could be receiving a lower state pension than they should. For context, if you are eligible for Universal Credit, you get Class 3 NI credits automatically.
This is due to issues processing information about Universal Credit entitlements by the National Insurance Recording System between 2017-18 and 2022-23.
The HMRC is the department that maintains the National Insurance records and also updates it when they think an individual qualifies for National Insurance Credits, and they pass on this information to the DWP.
Now that the processing issues have been fixed, HMRC will be able to properly relay the accurate data in that specific timeline to the DWP, and they can then correct the payments for anyone affected.
What to do if you have been underpaid?
If you recognise yourself as someone who could have been affected by these errors then you are advised to call pension service at 0800 731 0469 and find out more about your case.
Read more:
⋙ Thousands to get £6550 back from government due to underpayment errors, check if you're eligible
⋙ Thousands of older women could be owed up to £5,000, are you eligible?
Sources used:
The Express: Thousands of state pensioners owed £12,400 - full list of those affected
Liverpool Echo:DWP owes thousands of people up to £12,383 each
