Thousands of pensioners owed refund due to DWP error

Over 200,000 pensioners – mostly women – are expected to receive letters from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) informing them that they are entitled to a payment of £5,000.

The payments are due following errors made by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) resulting in underpayments to state pensions.

Those mainly impacted by the errors include:

  • Married women or widows who reached state pension age before April 2016
  • People aged over 80

Thousands of people found themselves receiving a smaller State Pension than they were entitled to, often because they didn’t have Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) or faced National Insurance issues related to Universal Credit.

HRP was designed to support parents and caregivers in securing their State Pension entitlements, but it was replaced by National Insurance credits on 6 April 2010.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HMRC are collaborating to locate individuals affected by these issues and update their records to ensure they receive the correct State Pension amount.

According to the National Audit Office (NAO), which oversees public spending for Parliament, an estimated 210,000 individuals have been underpaid a total of £1.3 billion in State Pensions due to historical problems associated with HRP.

HMRC is reviewing National Insurance records to identify individuals who may have been eligible for HRP between 1978 and 2010 but do not have it recorded in their files.

Anyone who has been affected by the error will be contacted by the DWP once their case has been evaluated and if you are entitled to the compensation, you will be able to make a claim online.

If you receive compensation as a result of this and would like to know how to make the most of these funds to support your retirement, please contact our team.

Posted in Blog, Wealth Management News.