State pensioners born in certain years have been sent payouts of almost £6,000 by the DWP after a State Pension error.
Almost 120,000 women have been underpaid on their pensions and are owed up to £11,905 each by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The government department has been carrying out a ‘correction exercise’ since 2021 to fix the mistake which affected married women whose husbands reached State Pension age before 2008, and widows and women over the age of 80 (born before 1944).
These women were entitled to an ‘enhanced pension’, which would have increased their pension payments by up to 60 percent, but they didn’t receive the money. To qualify, your husband must have turned 65 before March 2003, so he must’ve been born before 1943.
The DWP is now giving this money back and has completed payouts to married women and those aged over 80 who were affected.
Married women have been paid a share of £250.6 million by the DWP, amounting to £5,591 each between 45,907 women, while women over 80 have been paid a share of £68.2 million, amounting to £2,202 each on average between 33,437 women.
While these payments have now been sent, as of November 2024 the DWP is currently still issuing payments to widows affected by the error. A total of £417.2 million has been paid to 39,706 widows so far, with each getting an average payout of £11,905.
In the latest round of investigations between January 2021 and September 2024, the DWP paid out an average of £6,182 per woman. Those who have been affected by the error will be directly contacted by the DWP and must respond to receive their money.
The DWP said: “In 2020, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) became aware of a number of individuals who had not had their State Pension increased, in accordance with the law, automatically when this should have occurred. This prompted the department to take action to investigate the extent of the problem.
“Between 11 January 2021 and 30 September 2024, the checking process has identified 119,050 underpayments, owed a total of £736 million. DWP has completed two of the three customer groups: the Cat BL and Cat D cases, as reported in the 2023 to 2024 ARA (see note 1). Progress remains on track for the widowed cases to be completed by the end of 2024.”