Married Women’s Pensions
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Join Date: Jul 2000
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Married Women’s Pensions
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56654665
Women could be owed 'lottery-winning' pension sums
Women on £1-a-week state pensions could be owed tens of thousands of pounds, the BBC has learned.
Until recently, Carole Davies, 76, from Merstham in Surrey, was told she was entitled to less than £1 a week. But Mrs Davies, who retired in 2003, had been underpaid, not knowing she was actually eligible to receive a married woman's pension.
Earlier this year, she discovered she was owed £61,000 and entitled to £82.45 per week.....
The pension system is highly complex and many are unaware of the special rules for married women.
In March, documents revealed in the Budget showed an estimated 200,000 pensioners could be collectively owed up to £3bn after the under-payment of state pensions for decades.
A review, involving a team of more than 100 civil servants, is taking place to trace all the women who have been affected by systemic failures to automatically award pension pay rises, stretching back to 1992. The process could take up to five years.
Ms Davies is among 5,000 women entitled to potentially huge refunds, many of whom will not be captured by the DWP's search, due to a rule change in 2008.
Former pensions minister and partner at Lane Clark and Peacock LLP, Steve Webb, first highlighted the problem and the scale of the underpayments.He told the BBC that under a little-known rule, the women who qualify for this concession are those who are getting a tiny amount of what is known as "graduated retirement benefit" (GRB) under the old state pension system, which ran until 1975.
The average amount they are receiving is around £1.24 per week, but this is enough to qualify for a married woman's pension. They can backdate their claims to their husband's 65th birthday and could be in line for tens of thousands of pounds.
"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," said Mr Webb.
"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".
Unlike in other cases, this boosted payment is not automatic and women have to claim for it. That means many women know nothing about it and have missed out on this increase for years......
Women could be owed 'lottery-winning' pension sums
Women on £1-a-week state pensions could be owed tens of thousands of pounds, the BBC has learned.
Until recently, Carole Davies, 76, from Merstham in Surrey, was told she was entitled to less than £1 a week. But Mrs Davies, who retired in 2003, had been underpaid, not knowing she was actually eligible to receive a married woman's pension.
Earlier this year, she discovered she was owed £61,000 and entitled to £82.45 per week.....
The pension system is highly complex and many are unaware of the special rules for married women.
In March, documents revealed in the Budget showed an estimated 200,000 pensioners could be collectively owed up to £3bn after the under-payment of state pensions for decades.
A review, involving a team of more than 100 civil servants, is taking place to trace all the women who have been affected by systemic failures to automatically award pension pay rises, stretching back to 1992. The process could take up to five years.
Ms Davies is among 5,000 women entitled to potentially huge refunds, many of whom will not be captured by the DWP's search, due to a rule change in 2008.
Former pensions minister and partner at Lane Clark and Peacock LLP, Steve Webb, first highlighted the problem and the scale of the underpayments.He told the BBC that under a little-known rule, the women who qualify for this concession are those who are getting a tiny amount of what is known as "graduated retirement benefit" (GRB) under the old state pension system, which ran until 1975.
The average amount they are receiving is around £1.24 per week, but this is enough to qualify for a married woman's pension. They can backdate their claims to their husband's 65th birthday and could be in line for tens of thousands of pounds.
"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," said Mr Webb.
"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".
Unlike in other cases, this boosted payment is not automatic and women have to claim for it. That means many women know nothing about it and have missed out on this increase for years......
