DWP ‘looking at solutions’ to fix errors with state pension payments

The Division for Work and Pensions (DWP) says it’s methods to repair errors in a decades-old IT system which have led to folks receiving the flawed pension quantities.

The BBC reported the issue pertains to an ageing pc system launched within the Eighties and an lack of ability to precisely uprate a component of the state pension referred to as the Graduated Retirement Profit (GRB).

GRB is an addition to the fundamental state pension for individuals who labored throughout among the Sixties and Nineteen Seventies.

Whereas some folks might have been underpaid, others might have been overpaid and the problem has occurred over “successive governments”, in accordance with the DWP.

It’s understood that 98% of over and underpayments are of 1p or 2p per week, and all are under 10p.

A DWP spokesperson stated: “Our precedence is guaranteeing each pensioner receives the monetary help to which they’re entitled and most Graduated Retirement Profit awards are appropriate.

“The place they aren’t, the overwhelming majority of over and underpayments are of 1p or 2p per week and we’re options to this situation which has occurred below successive governments.”

Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister who’s now a associate at Lane Clark & Peacock, stated: “Though the errors are usually small, this might have knock-on results, maybe wrongly depriving some folks of a lot bigger quantities in means-tested advantages akin to Pension Credit score.”

He additionally identified that the issue is along with different pension cost blunders.

The DWP has beforehand been strongly criticised over the dealing with of long-term state pension underpayments.

It has underpaid an estimated 134,000 pensioners, largely girls, greater than £1 billion of their state pension entitlement, with some errors courting way back to 1985 and a correction train was began in January 2021.

Sir Steve not too long ago wrote to pensions minister Man Opperman, giving examples of additional errors which have been taking place as not too long ago as this yr, and calling for additional motion to enhance accuracy.

He stated the most recent inaccuracies to return to mild additionally immediate questions on what number of different errors might exist.

Sir Steve added: “Parliament will anticipate a written assertion from the minister on the earliest alternative with a full clarification.”

Labour MP Sir Stephen Timms, chairman of the Work and Pensions Choose Committee, advised the BBC: “A substantial amount of cash has been spent on the Common Credit score programme – which is an efficient system – however different advantages just like the state pension are counting on ageing and creaking programs.”