'Major milestone' for thousands of women who missed out on £10,000 state pension payments

The issue relates to a large group of married women on the basic state pension who did not see their state pension payments increased in line with their husband's National Insurance record

Thousands of married women who missed out on potentially more than a decade of higher state pension payments - worth more than £10,000 in some cases - are a step closer to compensation.

The issue relates to a large group of married women on the basic state pension - so those who reached pension age before April 2016 - who did not see their state pension payments increased in line with their husband's National Insurance record. These women should have seen their payments boosted to 60% of their husband's basic state pension entitlement - but many did not realise they had to apply for this increase.

If the husband turned 65 after March 17, 2008, this top-up would have been done automatically - but if he turned 65 before this date, you need to put in a claim. You can only get backdated payments going back 12 months, however, some women are trying to challenge this through the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

In an update this week, campaigner and former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb, who is now a partner at LPC, said a “major milestone” in this fight was reached after the Parliamentary Ombudsman confirmed it will launch a full investigation. If successful, the campaign could cost the Government hundreds of millions of pounds in state pension arrears.

In some cases, Mr Webb has spoken to women claiming as low as 25% of the full basic pension - and estimates some will have lost out by £10,000 or more since their husband retired. Shockingly, he also found the way they were supposed to claim the increase was by ticking a box on their husband's state pension form.

It means women could have missed out on higher payments if the husband failed to tick the box, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) only issued one form rather than two, or if the husband failed to pass on the second form. The investigation will look at a sample of seven "lead cases" brought to the Ombudsman.

In the event of a successful outcome, the ruling could also include thousands of women who died without ever receiving the correct pension. Mr Webb said: “This is a major milestone in a long-running campaign for justice for thousands of married women. In my view these women fell victim to a fundamentally sexist and archaic system which relied largely on married men ticking boxes and passing on claim forms to their wives.

The women I have spoken to are all intelligent people who do not ignore official correspondence and who would clearly have claimed their uplifted pension if they had realised a second claim was needed once their husband retired. The fact that they did not know this was needed indicates a system which let them down and has cost them in many cases thousands of pounds through no fault of their own."

A DWP spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring pensioners have the dignity and support they deserve in retirement and will cooperate fully with the Ombudsman’s investigation.”