After a campaign by the former Lib Dem pensions minister Steve Webb, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has agreed to investigate underpayments of state pensions over the last 20 years. That could lead to back-payments averaging about £13,500. The problem is thought to affect 200,000 women who retired before 6 April 2016 and received the old state pension.
Steve Webb said:
“The scale of these underpayments is truly shocking. While it is good that the government is now planning to address this issue, the plan to do so over five years is simply not fast enough. It is also quite shocking that DWP plans to stop paying interest on these underpayments. If the government is going to fix these problems it needs to do so swiftly and fairly,”
More in the Guardian and This is Money.
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One Comment
I was born December 1952 female
My Retirement date was 15th Sept 2015 age 62 9m ,before the cut off for the New Pension 6th April 2016
That was bad enough,but to find Men born the same date have been put on the New Post April 2016 a much higher rate ,was in my opinion totally unfair .The changes were supposed to be about bringing equality between Men & Women .So immediately Men born in 1952 will always be better off than Women born the same time .
The percentage increase is also unfair .The higher the pension paid the larger the increase .The difference in payment between the old lower pension rate and the new higher rate increases each year ,and of course there is compounded interest ..making the Women being assessed on the old lower rate pre April 6th 2016 worse off by the year