Thousands of older people could receive £12,400 in cash payments in the form of State Pension underpayments, before the end of next year.
The extra payments come as the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) works to rectify its administrative mistakes.
It is important to note, however, that most people receiving the state pension, are receiving the correct amount of money.
Most of those eligible for the pay-outs are women.
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The DWP has revealed that there were 82,323 underpayments during checks between January 11, 2021, and October 31, 2023.
The total owed to claimants is up to £492million, whilst average payments range between £2,245 and £12,383.
Married women, widows, people over 80 and those in civil partnerships may have been underpaid as their current State Pension payment does not include additional entitlements.
The DWP said earlier this year that it is “on track” to complete the review exercise by the end of this year for married women - category BL - and those over 80, category D.
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The planned end date for the State Pension LEAP (Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practice) exercise is the end of 2024.
In 2020, the Government organisation became aware of a number of people who had not had their state pension increased, as it should have done by law.
There are three categories for State Pension underpayments.
The first are cases covered by the State Pension Underpayments (LEAP) exercise.
The second is Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) cases where HRP has not been recorded accurately on National Insurance records.
Finally, the third are cases where National Insurance credits need to be updated for people who were claiming Universal Credit.
LEAP is the DWP’s biggest underpayment correction exercise that is currently in process. It was set up to identify where underpayments have occurred for three separate groups.
The DWP has estimated that it has underpaid between £300million and £1.5billion of State Pension due to admin errors
PAThe first is Category BL, which applies for people who are married or in a civil partnership who reached State Pension age before April 6, 2016, and should be eligible for a Category BL uplift based on their partner’s National Insurance contributions.
The second is for those who have been widowed and their State Pension was not increased to include amounts they are entitled to from their late partner.
The final category is known as Cat D, for those aged 80 and above who are getting some Basic State Pension but less than the £85.00 (in 2022-23) and may therefore be entitled to Cat D State Pension of £85.00 a week.
The DWP has estimated that it has underpaid between £300million and £1.5billion of State Pensions due to admin errors.
To check if you are affected or can make a claim, you should phone the pension service on 0800 731 0469.
