Overview of Main Groups Affected by The State Pensions Scandal
The government launched a correction exercise in 2021 to investigate substantial errors in state pension pay-out’s. This is due to a fault in the system.
A recent update released by the DWP showed that, as of March 31st 2025 130,948 cases have been reviewed, and £804.7m has been paid out. It is not too late to make a claim (see link here)
DWP states the final total will exceed 1 billion and affect over 170,000 people. The errors mainly affect women (DWP).
A written statement to parliament by Pensions Minister Guy Operman (see link) identified 3 main categories.
- Married women who should have received a pension increase when their husband retired.
- Individuals who didn’t have a pension reassessment when their spouse died.
- Pensioners over 80 who did not receive the automatic boosts that they were entitled to.
Groups Who Should Receive an Automatic Review
The categories that have been, or will be, under review and should receive automatic top ups are as follows.
- Married Women who reached SP age BEFORE April 2016 and whose husbands turned 65 BEFORE 17th March 2008. AND are being paid less than 60% of HIS basic state pension
- Widowed women, whose husband died AFTER 17th March 2008 AND were paid less than 60% of HIS state pension while he was alive. Or any widow whose state pension didn’t increase when their husband died. (There is further information for heirs of SP recipients who have now died on Gov.UK)
- Those age 80 and over and not receiving a state pension of at least £85pw (see link)
Groups Who Have Been Encouraged to Check Eligibility
Money Saving Expert have identified those being encouraged to check if they need to make a claim (Money Saving Expert). They are;
- Women whose husbands turned 65 BEFORE 17th March 2008, AND are paid less than 60% of HIS state pension. She must also have reached SP age before April 2016. This is when the rules around women receiving a proportion of their husband’s state pension changed
- Those who got divorced AFTER they reached state pension age, and they haven’t had their claim reassessed
- Married women who reached pension age before April 2016, and are receiving zero basic state pension. They may be receiving a small additional pension (known as SERPS). Her husband must have turned 65 before 17th March 2008
- Widows whose late spouse reached state pension age, OR died, before 6th April 2016 and they are not receiving inherited pension. They must have been widowed when they reached State Pension age, AND be eligible for the New State Pension. Spouse must have been receiving one, or both, of the following; Graduated Retirement Benefit (GRB) built up between 1961 and 1975. And/Or, Additional State Pension (SERPS/S2P) built up between 1978 and 2016. Women may be entitled to 50% of each benefit
HRP Claimants Eligible for a State Pension Pay-Out
HMRC have sent out over 370,000 letters which included a second correction exercise to fix missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP). This was a benefit designed to protect the pensions of people (mainly mothers) who took time off to care for their children before 2000.
HRP was an element put in place during the 1978/79 financial year which was designed to reduce the number of years of NI credits required to receive a full state pension. It was designed to protect those not earning through paid work due to caring responsibilities. However it was incorrectly implemented for 100,000s of people, leading to underpayments of SP.
This error mainly affects women currently aged between 41-90 who took time off from PAID work to care for a child or someone with a long-term medical condition. The applicable years are between 1978 and 2010.
How to Check Your Eligibility and Make a Claim
For Home Responsibilities Protection claims you can use the online checker HERE (you can also claim by post using form CF411 (see link).
The DWP is also encouraging people under state pension age to use the checker to identify eligibility. They state that affected individuals “do not need to wait for an invite to make a claim” (DWP).
For all other SP queries you will need to contact the Pensions Service to check if you have grounds for a claim.
Call Telephone: 0800 731 0469 or Textphone: 0800 731 0464.
The Pension Claim Line can be reached by calling 08007317898.
Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 731 0469
Welsh language: 0800 731 0453, Welsh language textphone: 0800 731 0456
Or you can write to them at: The Pension Service, Post Handling Site A, Wolverhampton, WV98 1AF
Do I Need to Report My State Pension Increase?
To date, DWP have now paid out over £929m. This includes the HRP corrections.
A DWP spokesperson said: “Our priority is ensuring pensioners receive the dignity and security they deserve in retirement, and that State Pension underpayment rates remain as low as possible. We have now completed the vast majority of cases in the exercise as planned, with a small number of outstanding cases due to further documentation needed from the customer.”
Have you been affected by this issue, and haven’t yet been contacted by the DWP? In this case you will need to to check your eligibility and make a claim. As all claims are backdated, you could be owed thousands in missed payments.
For those claiming Pension Credit, any increase in State Pension entitlement is treated as income. Therefore, this must be reported to the Pension Service. State Pension arrears backdates should be calculated to offset any Pension Credits already paid. Any surplus amount will then be paid. This will be treated as capital for Pension Credit purposes.
There are two parts that make up Pension Credit. Guarantee Credit (GC), which provides a minimum guaranteed income for those over SP age. And Savings Credit (SC), which is calculated by looking at your level of retirement provision if you reached SP age before April 2016. You may receive SC only, or SC alongside GC (this is based upon your income). If you receive GC, you automatically gain entitlement to full Housing Benefit (HB), and Council Tax Support (CTS). Any increase in State Pension due to a review or claim will not affect this.
For those people who do not receive GC, OR are only entitled to SC, any increase will be treated as capital. In this case the increase should be reported to the Local Authority that pays your HB/CTS.
Age UK have some useful factsheets about Pension Credit and Housing Benefit.
(Age Concern Pension Credit Factsheet)
(Age Concern Housing Benefit Fact Sheet) See section 6.1 and 6.2 for details relating to State Pension rules.
Are You Liable to Pay Tax on Your SP Backdate?
State Pension is taxable. Pensioners will be liable to pay tax on any lump sum received in backdated arrears. The good news is, that payment for the entire lump sum is not required. You will only pay tax for the year that correlates with the SP year in which it should have been received. It is also only applicable for the four full tax years prior to this, see link. Your yearly breakdown should be detailed in any letter you receive from the DWP about your SP backdate.
As tax is a complicated area, we would advise that you seek independent financial advice for any lump sum received.
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