BEN WILKINSON: It’s time to pay back married women’s rightful pensions

You don’t get anything for free nowadays. You have to fight for it.

Early in 2020, former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb cottoned on to a huge scandal when he found potentially tens of thousands of married women were missing out on better state pensions.

Since then, some women have had to pester the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in order to win back millions of pounds in payments they should have received automatically.

But many women will have to keep on fighting in 2021, as many of the wives who missed out have now been told they have no claim to the thousands of pounds they were once entitled to get.

The only real difference between the two groups of women caught up in the scandal is that one became entitled to the extra pension cash before March 17, 2008, and the other after.

Many in both cohorts will have sacrificed their own careers to raise a family while their husbands went to work. 

Both were permitted a state pension based on their husband’s work record. And both had no knowledge of this entitlement. The tick of the minute hand at midnight on March 17, 2008, is really all that separates these women.

Those entitled after that date who didn’t receive the rate automatically due to a government error are now receiving back payments in full.

And those who were allowed the pension boost before that date, who were supposed to claim it themselves, can only backdate their claim for 12 months — despite missing out on 12 years of a better pension.

There is a cruel injustice here, which is why we are now urging readers to unite to help fight for their full pension back pay.

These women need to make a complaint of maladministration to the DWP. The Government could argue it has correctly applied the law by refusing to fully backdate claims. 

Yet we want to see if it can defend itself against a barrage of complaints that its processes did not work effectively to ensure married women were informed of their right to better pensions.

The story of Wendy, who ended up in hospital because she couldn’t afford heating, shows how desperately people needed this money. Of course they would have claimed it, if they had only known they were entitled to it.

The fact that the Government changed the rules is arguably an admission that the system was not working. And why did the DWP think it was enough to send the claim forms to these women’s husbands? They have been cheated by an outdated set-up.

The scale of this mess proves the Government did not do enough to allow these women to collect their dues. After all, if you offer somebody money, surely they’ll take it?

£1 million victory

There is no doubt it has been a horrible year. But the horrors of Covid have been compounded by the way many companies failed to provide basic customer service when you needed it most.

This shocking dereliction is reflected in the fact that Money Mail has won readers back more than £1 million in 2020 after they lost out to greedy or inefficient firms. 

We are proud to highlight injustice where we see it, and will name and shame the firms that think they can get away with treating you badly.

We hope our stories have helped to keep you entertained, informed and empowered in what may be the most challenging year many of us will face. We will be on hand to fight your corner again in 2021.

Saving 2021

A New Year is a fresh start – and saving is key to keeping your finances healthy. So if good habits have lapsed, now is a chance to get back on track.

As we report, there are plenty of computer programs and smartphone apps that will now do all the hard work for you.

But do you have any, perhaps more traditional, tried and tested ways to save? We’d love to hear the tips that have helped you stick to a strict savings regime. Email us at [email protected].