Wife's State Pension - Underpayment.

Recently there has been news about wives having been underpaid on their state pensions, especially if they never paid full contributions, due to not working full time; looking after growing children, etc. It seems they are entitled to 60% of their husband's state pension (if he has paid full contributions over the years) If the wife's pension does not match 60% of the husband's then it should be topped up to that amount. My wife has always grumbled about how low her pension is, and after seeing the news I am beginning to wonder if she is one of the thousands who are entitled to the top-up. What I learned yesterday was that thousands of women will be entitled to this, and it could cost the government a couple of billion pounds.!!! Does any knowledgeable member here can give me advice and guidance ?

Recently there has been news about wives having been underpaid on their state pensions, especially if they never paid full contributions, due to not working full time; looking after growing children, etc. It seems they are entitled to 60% of their husband's state pension (if he has paid full contributions over the years) If the wife's pension does not match 60% of the husband's then it should be topped up to that amount.
My wife has always grumbled about how low her pension is, and after seeing the news I am beginning to wonder if she is one of the thousands who are entitled to the top-up.
What I learned yesterday was that thousands of women will be entitled to this, and it could cost the government a couple of billion pounds.!!!
Does any knowledgeable member here can give me advice and guidance ?

From the FT a couple of days ago it suggests that anyone affected will get a letter, they started in January trying to rectify the mistake. But you could try contacting the pensions dept https://www.gov.uk/contact-pension-service

From the FT a couple of days ago it suggests that anyone affected will get a letter, they started in January trying to rectify the mistake.

But you could try contacting the pensions dept https://www.gov.uk/contact-pension-service

I mentioned this to my wife who told me that it had been mentioned on Martin's Money tips almost 2 years ago and she checked her pension then and found it to be correct. Dave

I mentioned this to my wife who told me that it had been mentioned on Martin's Money tips almost 2 years ago and she checked her pension then and found it to be correct.

Dave

Thanks to both of you for your interest. There is a mention of this subject in today's newspaper.About 200,000 wives, widows, and over 80s will be sent letters to say they are due an average of £13,000. !!!! But married women who were entitled to the rise BEFORE MARCH, 2008, will not be told if they have missed out- or get their money back. Reason - ? it was their duty to claim the extra pension before the law changed. I will still have to delve and look into this matter. On a different subject, but connected to state pension, etc. there was an article in Radio Times> Your Money, by Paul Lewis. "DON'T BE BULLIED... You can ignore demands to repay benefits paid to someone after death." AND QUOTE - "THE DWP HAS NO LEGAL POWER TO RECOVER THIS MONEY." I have no personal experience of this. However, a close friend on the death of her father, received such a letter, and sent a cheque to DWP for overpayment on state pension for the weeks after his death.

Thanks to both of you for your interest. There is a mention of this subject in today's newspaper.About 200,000 wives, widows, and over 80s will be sent letters to say they are due an average of £13,000. !!!! But married women who were entitled to the rise BEFORE MARCH, 2008, will not be told if they have missed out- or get their money back. Reason - ? it was their duty to claim the extra pension before the law changed.
I will still have to delve and look into this matter.

On a different subject, but connected to state pension, etc. there was an article in Radio Times> Your Money, by Paul Lewis. "DON'T BE BULLIED... You can ignore demands to repay benefits paid to someone after death." AND QUOTE - "THE DWP HAS NO LEGAL POWER TO RECOVER THIS MONEY." I have no personal experience of this. However, a close friend on the death of her father, received such a letter, and sent a cheque to DWP for overpayment on state pension for the weeks after his death.

Relating to the above, my elderly mother (89) had a spell of illness and had not driven her car for many months but, in any case, it needed a repair. Her regular garage offered to buy it from her and she realised that she was probably never going to drive again so agreed the sale and she left the garage to deal with the paperwork. We were somewhat relieved that she was off the road and thought no more until 4 months later she passed away and 5 months later she received a notice of intended prosecution by DVLA (or some contractor acting for them) because she had not paid road tax for the last 5 months or reported that the Vehicle was sold or off the road. As the Executor, I explained what had happened and they would not accept and insisted they would press ahead. I thought that this was crazy and even considered waiting for the court papers and representing her in court with her death certificate. and proof that I had informed the company. I imagined that the the court would fine the company and award me expenses. In the event, I wrote to the DVLA and made it clear to them that if they did not call off their dogs I would make sure that the press were covering the case. Someone in the DVLA suddenly realised that they had better drop the whole subject quickly. How can you take legal action against someone who is no longer with us. Dave

Relating to the above, my elderly mother (89) had a spell of illness and had not driven her car for many months but, in any case, it needed a repair. Her regular garage offered to buy it from her and she realised that she was probably never going to drive again so agreed the sale and she left the garage to deal with the paperwork. We were somewhat relieved that she was off the road and thought no more until 4 months later she passed away and 5 months later she received a notice of intended prosecution by DVLA (or some contractor acting for them) because she had not paid road tax for the last 5 months or reported that the Vehicle was sold or off the road. As the Executor, I explained what had happened and they would not accept and insisted they would press ahead. I thought that this was crazy and even considered waiting for the court papers and representing her in court with her death certificate. and proof that I had informed the company. I imagined that the the court would fine the company and award me expenses. In the event, I wrote to the DVLA and made it clear to them that if they did not call off their dogs I would make sure that the press were covering the case. Someone in the DVLA suddenly realised that they had better drop the whole subject quickly. How can you take legal action against someone who is no longer with us.

Dave

Dave, I believe the problem nowadays is that someone at a desk, who is not using his/her brain to think a problem through, then if the answer is not on screen in front of them, what is in front of them must be correct, and therefore the person on the other end of the line, etc.,must be an idiot. Fred.

Dave, I believe the problem nowadays is that someone at a desk, who is not using his/her brain to think a problem through, then if the answer is not on screen in front of them, what is in front of them must be correct, and therefore the person on the other end of the line, etc.,must be an idiot.
Fred.

[quote]Dave, I believe the problem nowadays is that someone at a desk, who is not using his/her brain to think a problem through, then if the answer is not on screen in front of them, what is in front of them must be correct, and therefore the person on the other end of the line, etc.,must be an idiot. Fred.[/quote] I agree. I really wish I could have let it go to court just to see their reaction when the Court were made aware that the defendant was not alive. However, as you can imagine, having to deal with the funeral and estate, we had too many other issues to deal with. In fairness all the other organisations we dealt with (banks, Registrar, probate office, utilities private pension etc.) were very good . Dave

Quote:Dave, I believe the problem nowadays is that someone at a desk, who is not using his/her brain to think a problem through, then if the answer is not on screen in front of them, what is in front of them must be correct, and therefore the person on the other end of the line, etc.,must be an idiot.
Fred.


I agree. I really wish I could have let it go to court just to see their reaction when the Court were made aware that the defendant was not alive. However, as you can imagine, having to deal with the funeral and estate, we had too many other issues to deal with. In fairness all the other organisations we dealt with (banks, Registrar, probate office, utilities private pension etc.) were very good .

Dave

"Computer says No" [epzimg]grin-light.jpg[/epzimg]

"Computer says No"