Thousands of elderly people could receive a cash payment of £12,400 for missing state pensions by the end of next year.
The additional payments come as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) works to correct administrative errors.
However, it is important to note that most people receiving the National Pension are receiving the correct amount.
Most of those eligible for benefits are women.
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The DWP revealed that there were 82,323 underpayments on checks between January 11, 2021 and October 31, 2023.
The total amount owed by claimants is up to £492m, but the average payout ranges from £2,245 to £12,383.
Married women, widows, people aged over 80 and people in civil partnerships may be missing out on benefits as their current state pension payment does not include any additional entitlements.
The DWP announced earlier this year that reviews of married women (category BL) and women over 80 (category D) were “on track to be completed” by the end of this year.
Latest developments:
The National Pension LEAP (Legal Qualifications and Management Practice) is expected to end at the end of 2024.
In 2020, government agencies recognized that many people were not receiving the increase in their state pension that they were entitled to by law.
There are three categories of underpayment of the national pension.
The first is understate pension underpayment (LEAP) cases.
The second is where household liability protection (HRP) is not accurately recorded on the National Insurance register.
Finally, the third and final case is where people who have claimed Universal Credit need to have their National Insurance credit updated.
LEAP is DWP’s largest ongoing underpayment remediation action. This was set up to identify where underpayments occurred in three separate groups.
The DWP estimates that it is underpaying state pensions by between £300 million and £1.5 billion due to administrative errors.
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The first is category BL, which applies to married people or people in civil partnerships who reached state pension age before 6 April 2016, and is based on their partner’s national insurance contributions. You must be eligible for the increase.
The second category is for people who lost their husbands and did not receive an increase in the national pension they were entitled to receive from their deceased partner.
The last category is known as Category D and is for people aged 80 and over who receive a basic state pension but receive less than £85.00 (2022-23). You may therefore be entitled to a Category D state pension of £85.00 per week.
The DWP estimates that it is underpaying state pensions by between £300 million and £1.5 billion due to administrative errors.
To find out if you are affected or if you can make a claim, call the Pension Service on 0800 731 0469.