DWP to pay back £570 million to pensioners who could be owed up to £12,000 each

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has issued a new update on the number of people in line for a payout after being underpaid their state pension, with thousands owed up to around £12,000.

The latest figures from the DWP, released this week, show that nearly 100,000 underpayments have been identified and those affected are owed a total of more than £570 million. The underpayments mainly affect married women, widows, and people over a certain age, the DWP said.

In its latest review, the department said it had identified 97,016 underpayments, costing £571.6 million overall. Those mainly targeted by the payout are people who were not given the correct pension after they either reached a certain age, or lost their partner.

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The DWP said the state pension correction exercise began in January 2021, and the latest figures are for cases found up until February 29 this year. The data shows that more than 14,500 new cases have been identified since the last update in November last year.

The average repayment amount varies from just over £2,100 for pensioners over 80, to more than £12,400 for widowed pensioners.

The DWP said: "In 2020, the Department for Work and Pensions became aware of a number of individuals who had not had their State Pension increased, in accordance with the law, automatically when this should have occurred. This prompted the department to take action to investigate the extent of the problem."

The table below shows the total underpayments identified and the amount repaid from January 11, 2021 to February 29, 2024, according to the DWP.

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