Widowed In Retirement

At LCP we are investigating whether a particular group of women who were widowed in retirement might have missed out on a state pension lump sum when they lost their husband.   

Because of the many other errors on state pensions which we have helped to uncover, we are not confident that this particular group of women were properly assessed.

The group who *may* be affected tick *all* of the following boxes: 

• You were born before 6th April 1953, and therefore come under the ‘old’ state pension system; 
• You and your husband were both drawing a state pension when he died; 
• Before your husband died you were either:
  
  • Not getting any state pension at all; OR 
  • Only getting a tiny pension (a few pounds at most); OR 
  • Getting a low state pension in your own right, short of the standard married woman’s rate 
• When you were widowed, although your weekly pension was increased, you didn’t receive any lump sum of arrears

If you tick all of these boxes (or you know of a family member who does) then we want to hear from you. 

What should have happened when you were widowed is that, as well as being assessed for your pension as a widow, they should have checked to see if you had been getting the right amount as a married woman.  Examples could include: 

• You never claimed a state pension prior to being widowed;  when you were widowed you should have received a backpayment of the married woman’s pension all the way back to when your husband first drew his pension; 
• You only ever claimed a pension in your own right (Category A) and not a married woman’s pension (Category BL) once your husband retired;  in this case you would be due 12 months of the difference between the two. 

We are looking to find some examples of women who may have missed out so that we can ask DWP to check for errors and see if there was a systematic problem. 

If this could be you, please complete the form below and we will get back to you.

At this stage we are not asking for personal details such as your NI number or address, but this may be needed later if we take up your case with DWP. Your other details will be used solely to identify those who may have lost out and will not be used for any other purpose. Please answer all the questions you can. If you do not recall exact figures, please give your best estimate. 

Your answers will go directly to Steve Webb, partner at LCP, who is investigating this issue, and who will contact you directly by email if it looks as though you may have missed out. 

Thank you for your help. If we can identify a systematic problem, your time may help thousands of other people as well. 

Your data will be used solely for the purpose of assessing whether you may have been underpaid state pension in the way described on this page. We will use the email you have supplied only to respond to your webform and for no other purpose.  If you do not fit the criteria of those likely to be affected we will then delete your personal data. If you may fit the criteria we will reply to you and may retain your data only until the matter has been resolved.