Thousands of women currently receiving as little as £1 a week for their State Pension could be owed sums of money equivalent to lottery wins, a former pensions minister has said.
Sir Steve Webb, who is now a partner at pensions consultants Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP), said some women may be entitled to huge refunds but could be missed by data searches currently being carried out by the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ).
It is thought that as many as 5,000 women could be due a windfall and Sir Steve estimated the total bill, if all these women claimed, could be as much as £250 million.
He said women he had recently helped claim back State Pension underpayments from DWP included one who was entitled to £56,000, another to £33,000 and a third to more than £60,000.
Some women were until recently on pensions of only around £1 per week, he said.
Sir Steve said that under a little-known rule, women in this specific group were allowed to claim back pension payments to before a 2008 rule change, which has prevented many other married women from making backdated claims.
Three main elements made up the old State Pension system:
a basic State Pension
an earnings-related pension (also called Serps)
an older graduated retirement benefit (GRB), which ran from 1961 to 1975 and was a forerunner of Serps.
The women who qualify for this special concession are those with no basic State Pension but who are receiving a tiny amount of GRB.
They can make a backdated claim today all the way back to when their husband turned 65, Sir Steve said.
Carole Davies, whose husband retired in 2005, said: "After four months of looking for answers from the DWP we enlisted the help of Sir Steve Webb and, to my amazement, the DWP have now confirmed all my due monies will come to me.
"I would advise all women in my position to seek advice and push hard for everything they are due as it is their right."
In March, documents revealed in the UK Government’s Budget showed thousands of women who were underpaid the State Pension were in line for top-ups, with the bill put at around £3 billion.
But Sir Steve said the group of 5,000 women were likely to be missed by the DWP's data search - and they should contact the Pension Service as soon as possible to see if they were owed money.
He said: "It is incredible that there are thousands of women getting such tiny pensions, but even more incredible that many could potentially be entitled to tens of thousands in back payments.
"It is as if they are sitting on unclaimed winning lottery tickets. It is very important that women on these very small pensions make contact with the DWP as soon as possible to see if they could be entitled to a windfall."
A DWP spokesman said: "The action we are taking now will correct the historical underpayments that have been made by successive governments and anyone impacted will be contacted by us to ensure they receive all that they are owed."
State Pension underpayment in a nutshell
Under the old State Pension system, married women could claim a basic State Pension at 60% of the full rate based on their husband's contributions, in cases where this would be bigger than the pension they could get based on their own contributions.
Before March 17, 2008, a married woman would need to make a claim to have her state Pension increased - since that date the uplift should have happened automatically.
State Pension is usually paid every four weeks, which means women could have been missing out on up to £321.80 per month.
Who is eligible to claim?
In October 2020, Pensions consultants Lane Clark & Peacock, said more than 160,000 people had visited a calculator on its website since it published a report in May titled " Are tens of thousands of older women being underpaid state pension? "
Some women told LCP that they have received large lump sum repayments from the DWP, with the average refund it is aware of sitting at just over £9,000, but some amount to more than £30,000.
There are six particular groups strongly encouraged to contact the pension service to see if they could be entitled to more State Pension.
They are:
1. Married women whose husband turned 65 before March 17, 2008 and who have never claimed an uplift to the 60 per cent rate.
2. Widows whose pension was not increased when their husband died.
3. Widows whose pension is now correct, but who think they may have been underpaid while their late husband was still alive, particularly if he reached the age of 65 after March 17, 2008.
4. Over-80s who are receiving a basic State Pension of less than £80.45.
5. Widowers and heirs of married women , where the woman has now died but was underpaid state pension during her lifetime.
6. Divorced women , particularly those who divorced after retirement, to check that they are benefiting from the contributions of their ex-husband.
To check if you might be eligible, you can also answer a few simple questions on the LCP online calculator here.
This checker has been designed to provide information for married women.
The information you enter is anonymous and will indicate if you are being paid the correct amount of State Pension.
How to make a claim
A phone call to the Pension Service is the quickest way to find out if you are eligible for a State Pension refund.
There may be a delay if you choose to write to them due restrictions imposed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but pension experts say those who phoned up have had money in their bank account in as little as one week later.
The best number to call is 0800 731 0469, but full contact details can be found on the Gov.uk website here.
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