The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has repaid £736m to individuals affected by historical state pension underpayments as of 30 September 2024. The repayment addressed 119,050 underpayments, primarily impacting married women, widows, and individuals over 80 years old who were entitled to an ‘enhanced pension’ that could have increased their payments by up to 60%. Between 11 January 2021 and 30 September 2024, the DWP reviewed 857,050 cases and identified a total of 119,050 underpayments.
£250.6m was repaid to 45,907 cases involving married women, with an average arrears amount of £5,591. £417.2m was paid to 39,706 widowed cases, averaging £11,905 per payment.
DWP addresses state pension errors
A further £68.2m was repaid for 33,437 cases involving individuals over 80, with an average payment of £2,202. The government also addressed Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) errors. The DWP identified 5,344 underpayments between 8 January 2024 and 30 September 2024, totaling around £42m in arrears.
The HRP error occurred because many Child Benefit claim forms submitted before 2000 did not include a National Insurance number, leading to omissions in transferring relevant HRP data from the Child Benefit to the National Insurance computer systems. Industry experts have raised concerns over the pace of the government’s progress in addressing these issues, particularly HRP errors. The DWP continues to work on resolving these underpayments and ensuring all individuals receive the correct state pension amounts they are entitled to.
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