By Democrat reporter

Thousands of elderly women are set to receive a total of £736 million in repayments due to previous underpayments on their State Pensions,  the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) revealed today.

This scandal has seen many older women miss out on thousands of pounds, potentially up to £11,900, which could have been crucial during the current cost of living crisis.

The issue lies in the fact that married women whose husbands reached pensionable age before 2008, as well as widows and those over 80, did not receive an ‘enhanced pension’ that would have increased their payments by up to 60%.

The DWP has released new updates on the progress of the State Pension Underpayments Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practice (LEAP) exercise and the Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) corrections exercise.

This ongoing scheme aims to identify those affected and ensure they receive the money they are owed. Between January 11, 2021 and September 30, 2024, some 119,050 underpayments have been identified through the LEAP exercise, amounting to a total of £736 million.

Specifically, a total of £250.6 million has been repaid to the 45,907 cases involving married women, with an average arrears amount of £5,591, while a total of £417.2 million has been paid in relation to the 39,706 widowed cases, with an average £11,905 payment. In addition, £68.2 million was repaid in relation to 33,437 cases involving over 80s, with an average payment of £2,202.

The HRP error occurred because many Child Benefit claim forms submitted before 2000 did not include a National Insurance number, meaning that the relevant HRP was not transferred from the Child Benefit computer to the National Insurance computer.

The DWP has now completed the LEAP correction exercises for married women and people in a civil partnership (category BL) and those over 80 (category D), and confirmed that “progress remains on track for the ‘Widowed’ cases to be completed by the end of 2024”.