The Department for Work and Pensions told a widow she could only receive state pension based on her contributions, and not those of her late husband as well.
However, this is not true as Britons may be able to inherit an extra payment on top of their new state pension if they’re widowed.
After her husband's death, a woman contacted the local Job Centre and pensions service to ask about her pension contributions.
She enquired about how much longer she may have to work to gain the correct qualifying years to get the full amount of state pension when she retires, as well as when what age she can retire.
The widow was informed by the DWP that she would only receive state pension from her own contributions and not her late husbands, despite him making full contributions. He died in his late 50s and had not started claiming his state pension when he passed away.
Steve Webb, pensions expert and a partner at Lane, Clark and Peacock (LCP) explained that the DWP have been giving out the incorrect information on the phone.
Widows and widowers could potentially be missing out on inherited state pension, which could add thousands to savings.
Widows and widowers could potentially be missing out on inherited state pension, which could add thousands to savings.
GETTYThe widow told This is Money: "I was informed to request a quote from the DWP which I did. I was also informed by the Job Centre that I would not receive any pension at all from my husband's contributions.
"I queried this and was then put through to a widows' pension adviser, who clarified that as my husband had not claimed his pension but had passed away before he could make the claim I could not claim any of his contributions. I believe that I have only received my state pension based on my contributions, which cannot be right."
Webb explained the 'inheriting a partner's state pension' rules to encourage more widows and widowers to check if they can claim any pension from a spouse who has passed away.
Britons can inherit a state pension that had not been claimed by their partners as they still did make National Insurance contributions.
Inherited state pension can be claimed as soon as the surviving spouse reaches state pension age themselves, they don't have to wait until their late spouse would have reached pension age to inherit it.
The pensions expert also reassured widows that they can inherit the new state pension, but their are tighter rules under the new state pension system than under the pre-2016 system.
Widows can also inherit state pension if they don't qualify for a full pension in their own right.
It should be noted that Britons can’t inherit anything if they remarry or form a new civil partnership before they reach state pension age.
Some may be entitled to extra payments from their deceased spouse's or civil partner's state pension, but this depends on their National Insurance Contributions and the date they reached the state pension age.
If someone hasn't reached state pension age yet, they might also be eligible for Bereavement benefits.
Britons can inherit additional state pension if they married or had a civil partnership with their deceased partner before April 6, 2016, and one of the following applies:
If someone is married or in a civil partnership and they both reached state pension age before April 6, 2016, and one of them dies, the survivor may be entitled to receive a higher basic state pension based on the National Insurance record of their partner.
This is only the case if the surviving partner hasn’t already built up a full basic state pension from their own National Insurance contribution record.
If their spouse or civil partner is under the state pension age when they die, they will lose this right if they remarry or enter into a new civil partnership before they reach state pension age.
The rules are extremely complicated, so people are urged to make sure they seek free advice from the Pension Service to see if they cab increase the payments.
A DWP spokesperson said: "We want to ensure pensioners receive all the support to which they are entitled and have a tool to help them understand what state pension they can inherit.
"Delays can occur to a customer's state pension award when not all the information we need is provided. In these cases, we will make a state pension award based on the customer's own National Insurance record until we have the required information.
"Once we have the necessary documentation, we will then revise the customer's claim as soon as possible."
