Claiming backdated state pension entitlement?

wimbleQ

Hello,

Please could someone offer some advice? I'm helping a family friend with their budgeting and when we looked into her state pension it seems she has been underpaid pension for the last four years. Spoke to Pension Service who confirmed she should be getting a married woman's pension but that it should have been "claimed" and because it wasn't claimed they will only backdate for a year. So she has lost out on 3 years' worth of pension monies she should have been receiving.

This seems extremely unfair as until being told this yesterday she was unaware she had any more entitlement so how could she be expected to claim for something she knew nothing about?

Pension Service says it is possible to "appeal" for the back years payments but they wouldn't tell me what the chances of success are or really what is involved, but mentioned a tribunal hearing. Please does anyone know any more or has anyone been this far and what was the outcome? As not really sure she can handle the stress of court hearings.

This really seems incredibly unjust for someone who is in any event in receipt of a poor pension and on a low income.

Very grateful for any advice.

Ta muchly.

wimbleQ

Hello, just "bumping" this - please does anyone have any advice on this?

Many thanks.

EdInvestor

If she has a very low income (under either the married women's pension level or the basic state pension level) then she should be claiming pension credit.

Is that what you mean?

wimbleQ

Hi Ed Investor,

No, not pension credit (although she's looking into that also). What I mean is she has been receiving her own state pension for some time. But apparently when her husband reached 65 she became entitled to some additional amount on top - a married woman's pension addition or something. It is that "additional" amount which was never paid because the Pension Service say it had to be proactively claimed.

My thoughts are that if it is an entitlement and one becomes entitled upon the 65th birthday of one's husband and the Pension Service have both parties details, dates of births and are indeed already paying pensions to both parties, they should automatically pick up on this and if they do not automatically increase the amount they pay then at the very least they should write out to say "Dear Mrs X, did you know you might be entitled to £X extra but you need to claim it, here's the form, please fill in and return".

Instead the Pension Service remained silent and if, as now, you stumble by accident across the fact you were entitled to this 4 years ago they say they will only pay you back for one year. I think it's really shabby!

We were told if we appeal a decision not to pay back the full four years this would involve a tribunal hearing.

I was just wondering if anyone has found themselves in a similar situation and pursued an appeal and if so what is involved and how it went.

Many thanks.

EdInvestor

wimbleQ wrote: »

What I mean is she has been receiving her own state pension for some time. But apparently when her husband reached 65 she became entitled to some additional amount on top - a married woman's pension addition or something. It is that "additional" amount which was never paid because the Pension Service say it had to be proactively claimed.

It's true that you have to claim state pensions.They will alert you once, when you reach state pension age, that you should claim. In this case looks like she had a choice of claiming in her own right, or waiting until hubby became 65 and then claiming on his contributions and chose the former.

My thoughts are that if it is an entitlement and one becomes entitled upon the 65th birthday of one's husband and the Pension Service have both parties details, dates of births and are indeed already paying pensions to both parties, they should automatically pick up on this.

I agree it would be nice, but it's not how the system works, other than the alert I mention above. There are many people who are entitled to claim additional NI years who are not told about this either, unless they ask. The pension staff are helpful if you get in touch usually.

To be honest the amount of work involved in looking at the record of every individual in the country, determining what they are entitled to and writing to them about it does not look cost-effective to me.

I don't mean to criticise but to my mind people should be encouraged to make a bit more effort, or at least seek some advice from the many free agencies set up to help them find their way around the system, rather than expect to be nannied at taxpayer expense.