State pension mistakes: how to check your payments are correct

Older women could be owed thousands in state pension payments due to government errors – here is how you can check if you are owed money. 

The latest annual report from the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) on fraud and error in the benefits system shows £670 million in owed state pension payments were underpaid – the highest level on record – in the previous year, with "official error" the main cause. 

HMRC has begun writing to mothers who have been "short-changed" on their state pension payments, said ThisIsMoney, due to "missing child benefit records". They are owed an average of £5,000 each. 

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It comes as "millions of people" have been receiving incorrect state pension payments due to "errors" made by the DWP over the years, said The Times Money Mentor. 

What is the state pension?

The state pension is a regular payment paid by the government to older people. 

You get it once you reach state pension age, currently 66, and you usually need at least 10 years of National Insurance (NI) contributions to receive a minimum rate, and 35 years to get the maximum. 

The full state pension is currently worth £203.85 a week and goes up each year based on a controversial calculation called the triple lock. 

Why you should check your state pension

A mix of computer errors, state pension changes and "the usual government omnishambles", explained Unbiased, means lots of people – mainly women – are collectively owed millions in underpaid state pension. 

The "biggest scandal" affects married, divorced or widowed women who reached state pension age before April 2016 and should have automatically received up to 60% of their husband's basic state pension entitlement since 2008, added The Times Money Mentor. But "errors made by the DWP" meant this didn't happen. 

The DWP estimates that around 237,000 people are affected and the government department is checking records and making contact with them. 

It means some married women, widows and those aged over 80 should get payments "without having to take any action", said financial consultancy Lane, Clark & Peacock (LCP), which helped uncover the issue. Others though, such as married women whose husbands turned 65 before 17 March 2008 and women who divorced after pension age, "will still need to contact the department" or check with the Pension Service.

In the latest case, described by the DWP as the "second largest source of error in state pensions", an estimated 210,000 women are missing out on up to £1.3 billion in state pension payments due to "holes in their child benefit records", said This Is Money. 

The issue affects parents and carers who had Home Responsibilities Protection missing from their NI records between 1978 and 2010.  

Gaps have been spotted where people – mainly mothers – claimed child benefit before May 2000 and did not provide their NI numbers on the claim as it wasn't mandatory to do so. 

Letters will be sent out this month over an 18-month period, said MoneyWeek and those who are over pension age will be contacted first and invited to put in a claim. 

Some people may have died and their families will be "entitled to check their eligibility" and make a claim for any arrears, added the financial website. 

LCP has a tool to check whether you are being underpaid.

How to check your state pension and fill the gaps 

If you want to spot errors and see what you are entitled to the "easiest thing to do", said MoneySavingExpert, is to check your state pension forecast.

It will tell you how many qualifying NI years you've already built up, and how many more you need to get the highest state pension available. 

There could be gaps for a "range of reasons", said the Daily Telegraph, such as  earning a low income where you're not required to pay NI, being self-employed and not making adequate contributions. 

You may also be able to buy extra NI credits to boost your state pension.