DWP leaves survivors in the cold with mysterious state pension payments

Survivors are told their deceased relatives may be entitled to outstanding state pension payments, only to be left in limbo for months by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The amounts involved are not disclosed. The recipients of the letters are therefore left in the dark about the amounts they will ultimately receive.

Three cases we recently investigated resulted in separate payouts of £3,800 and £27, as well as apologies for a letter being sent by mistake.

But in recent years, major errors have led to payouts running into the tens of thousands of pounds, in some cases exceeding £100,000.

This came as many older married women and widows, and both men and women over 80, were underpaid by a total of more than £1 billion in a state pension scandal exposed by our columnist Steve Webb and This is Money.

In another Tax and Customs Administration blunder we mentioned earlier, many mothers missed out on large amounts of state pension due to gaps in their national insurance records.

As a result, the DWP and HMRC are attempting to contact affected parties and make the arrears payments to them – or to their beneficiaries if they are already deceased – but this has led to frustration at delays and further errors.

Earlier this year, Webb helped the family of a 90-year-old woman who had spent months chasing an initial letter and were at one point told verbally by the DWP that she could be entitled to £60,000 or more. In the end, her benefit turned out to be just over £400.

Webb said it was “simply cruel” to send people letters about underpayments from state pensions, giving them hope only to leave them in limbo for months.

He urges the DWP to introduce a streamlined process so that a final decision and payment can be made quickly following responses from survivors to such letters.

> Did you or a deceased family member receive too little state pension? Read below what you need to do

DWP worker said, ‘Don’t book that world cruise yet’ and laughed

Her daughter Clare Thomas (whose name we have changed) is in mourning and received a letter in January saying that her mother, who died in spring 2023 at the age of 87, may be entitled to a state pension she inherited from her late husband.

This concerned Mrs Thomas’ father, who had died earlier at the age of 85.

Mrs Thomas was executor of her late mother, a retired cleaner who lived in Scotland. She said: ‘In April 2024 I contacted the DWP bereavement team and was told it could take up to a year to resolve this issue.

‘We were also told that we could not speak to anyone from the DWP underpayment department because they were ‘not taking calls’.’

During her phone call, the employee told her, “Don’t book that world cruise yet,” and laughed, which she found appalling and disrespectful.

“Someone from the grief team said that. I thought it was horrible. They were so dismissive,” she says.

When This is Money asked the DWP to investigate, the organisation apologised. It transpired that the state pension had been paid correctly to Mrs Thomas’s mother and that the letter had been sent in error.

A spokesman said: ‘We apologise to Mrs (name omitted) for any inconvenience caused by sending a letter stating that her mother was receiving an underpayment of her state pension.

‘This was a result of an administrative error and we have written to (name removed) to confirm that her late mother’s state pension was paid correctly.’

‘It is impossible to contact the team dealing with this by phone or email’

John Williams is executor of the estate of a close friend, Mary Evans, a retired postmistress who lived in Wales and died in Yorkshire in 2020 at the age of 93 (names changed).

He was not a beneficiary of her will, but was solely responsible for the settlement of her estate.

Mr Williams received a letter from the DWP last October stating that Mrs Evans had received too little state pension between 2016 and 2020.

He responded immediately, but then heard nothing for eight months, despite calling a dozen more times and sending a registered letter.

He says the amount of arrears was not disclosed, but was told during a phone call to the DWP that it was a significant sum.

Mr Williams was also told that Mrs Evans’ estate was “high on the list to be paid out” but that he would have to be patient because there were many women in a similar situation and the issue was being discussed in Parliament.

“I have been told on several occasions that it is impossible to contact the team actually dealing with this matter by phone or email,” Mr Williams said.

“I am concerned because I am currently 78 years old, while the five remaining beneficiaries who are currently unaware of this matter are all between the ages of 75 and 95. I am beginning to wonder whether this matter will be resolved in our lifetime.”

After Mr Williams contacted This is Money, we took the matter to the DWP, who paid him £3,800 in arrears and apologised for the delay.

Surviving daughter sidelined for months by DWP

Karen Roberts was contacted by DWP in April about her late mother Anne, a former department store quality clothing inspector who lived in Scotland (names changed).

A letter states that her mother received an insufficient state pension for about 12 years before she died in 2019 at the age of 80. The exact amount was not disclosed.

After months of not hearing anything and being told on the phone that she couldn’t speak to the right department, she and her daughter contacted This is Money.

Following our intervention, an outstanding state pension of £27 was paid. The amount was reduced because Anne was in receipt of a Severe Disability Allowance.

Why did DWP wrongly say my mother, 90, was entitled to £60,000?

Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb has investigated two similar cases on behalf of readers who wrote to his This is Money column this year.

One person received a letter saying his father, who died aged 100, had been underpaid his state pension for 20 years, and then heard nothing from the DWP for six months.

After Webb intervened, our reader inherited his father’s state pension arrears of just under £8,000. The DWP apologised for the delay.

In a second case, a 90-year-old woman received a letter in December last year stating that she may have payment arrears.

When one of her daughters called several times over the next five months to find out, she received very different estimates of the amount involved from DWP staff.

At one time she was told it was £24,000, at another time £60,000 or perhaps more, and at another time £400, causing confusion and stress for her elderly mother.

Webb eventually confirmed that the amount owed was £438. A DWP spokesman said: ‘We apologise for the mistakes we made in handling this case and for the service we provided to your card reader.’

Webb, who is now a partner at pensions consultancy LCP, said: ‘Where the DWP believes money has been found that is still owed to state pensioners, it has a duty to take swift action.

‘It’s just cruel to send people letters that raise their hopes and then leave them in limbo for months.

‘And once again it seems there is no way to cut through the bureaucracy and speak to someone who can actually tell you what’s going on.

“When people respond to these letters, there needs to be a streamlined process to come to a final decision and pay what is owed. They should not just be put back into a new queue.”