Thousands of retired men and women are still waiting for their first state pension payments to arrive, despite being told the six month delay would end in October.
Around 4,900 newly retired people are still sitting in the Department for Work and Pensions’ queue, as the cost of living rockets to a 10-year-high.
Steve Webb, partner at LCP and former pensions minister, said: "It's clear the problem of late payment of state pensions is not resolved as ministers promised.
"If people put off claiming their pension but now want to receive it, they should get their money promptly.
"The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should not just dismiss the fact that nearly 5,000 are still waiting to get the money they are due."
The issue affected pensioners who retired at 66 this year but fell into a queue with administrative delays.
Staff shortages and the pandemic were blamed for the backlog built up over the summer.
The DWP previously said the issue would be resolved by October and all retirees should receive their support by that date – however some people claim they are still waiting for it to arrive.
Are you still waiting for your first state pension payment to arrive? Get in touch: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
One charity warned it’s a disaster for those who rely on their state pension as their entire income.
"For people who rely on the state pension as a relatively high proportion of their income it could be a bit of a disaster," said David Sinclair, director at the International Longevity Centre UK.
"The potential for anxiety and stress is huge."
Pensions minister Guy Opperman previously told MPs to reassure their older constituents that the system would be back to normal by the end of October.
Now, the DWP has said that there are still 4,900 outstanding pension claims which had forced officials to contact customers - noting that in some cases, more information will be required before processing can be completed.
"We are sorry that some new customers have faced delays receiving their state pension," said a DWP spokesman.
"We have now issued all outstanding payments and are in contact with those customers where more information is required in order to complete processing."
The issue follows a separate investigation by the DWP that last year revealed 134,000 female pensioners have been underpaid on their state pensions.
The underpayment affected married women whose husbands became eligible for state pension after March 17, 2008 and who were unknowingly entitled to an ‘enhanced pension’ that would have boosted their payments by up to 60%.
The DWP also identified some underpayments due to ‘missed conversions’ for people whose partner died and their state pension entitlement was not reviewed.
A third failure meant for over-80s who should have automatically been entitled to a ‘category D’ state pension when they turned 80 without having to make a separate claim, were not awarded one.
The Department said it was prioritising "at risk" pensioners, such as those widowed or aged over 80 in returning the lost income.
However, around 40,000 of those who have died will never see the money they were rightly owed.
