Over 230,000 people of State Pension age urged to check if they are due back payments of £9,000

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The most recent report by the public spending watchdog on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) accounts has revealed that around 237,000 people over State Pension age have been underpaid a total of £1.46 billion.

The underpayments average around £8,900 per person. Jenny Holt, Managing Director, customer savings and investments at Standard Life explained that the people most likely to have been affected by these underpayments are those who reached State Pension age before April 2016, particularly if they didn’t have a full National Insurance record or full State Pension entitlement.

She said: “If you fall into this category then there are steps you can take to find out how much you might be owed and make a claim. “Even if you’re not affected directly by this issue, it’s still important to take the time to understand the State Pension, know what you’re entitled to, and whether it is being paid to you correctly.

Having this knowledge will help you spot any potential errors and ensure you’re receiving the money you’re due.” Jenny continued: “Last year, the National Audit Office estimated that as many as 134,000 pensioners, mostly women, may not have received the full amount of State Pension they’re entitled to, being owed an average of £8,900.“This amounts to total underpayments of over £1 billion and estimates this year are even higher, with around 700,000 potential cases needing to be reviewed by the UK Government and potentially as many as 237,000 people are affected - meaning almost 2% of everyone receiving a State Pension could be eligible for a top-up payment.“These cases arise due to a variety of factors, including computer errors, information being incorrectly inputted in people’s records and the complexity