Thousands of older Brits could be due compensation and an apology from the Government after yet another failure to properly communicate major changes in the benefits system that caused some to miss out on crucial support.
An investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has revealed that thousands of elderly individuals might be entitled to a payout from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) concerning their State Pension. It's crucial to note that this probe by the Ombudsman is separate from the WASPI issue, which impacted around 3.5 million women born in the 1950s.
The PHSO discovered that it took the DWP eight years to inform a British expat about a change in his State Pension that would result in an annual loss of £3,000. As a result, the PHSO is now pressing the Government to ensure communications with the public are "always fair, clear, and consistent".
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Adrian Furnival, 82, who relocated to Brittany with his wife Sheila, 67, in 1994, was unaware until 2018 that he would stop receiving Adult Dependency Increase (ADI) payments from 2020—a supplement awarded when the main earner reached State Pension age but their partner had not—leaving him over £250 a month out of pocket.
While residents in the UK were informed about the ADI payment changes in 2010, the PHSO found that the DWP did not adequately communicate these changes to Adrian and should have done so in April 2010, reports the Daily Record.
The Ombudsman also stated that the DWP "failed to respond to his initial queries and complaints in a timely way" and recommended that Adrian should receive an apology from the Department and "£675 for the
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