The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) informed a widow that she could only receive a state pension based on her own contributions, not her late husband’s. However, this information was incorrect, as Britons may be able to inherit an extra payment on top of their state pension if they are widowed. The widow contacted the local Job Centre and pensions service to inquire about her pension contributions after her husband’s death.
She wanted to know how much longer she needed to work to qualify for the full state pension and at what age she could retire. The DWP initially told her that she would only receive a pension based on her own contributions, despite her husband having made full contributions before his death in his late 50s. Steve Webb, a pensions expert and partner at Lane, Clark and Peacock (LCP), explained that the DWP had been providing incorrect information over the phone.
Widows and widowers might be missing out on inherited state pensions, which could add significant savings. The widow expressed her frustration: “I was informed to request a quote from the DWP, which I did. I was also told by the Job Centre that I would not receive any pension from my husband’s contributions.
I queried this and was put through to a widows’ pension adviser, who clarified that since my husband had not claimed his pension before passing away, I could not claim any of his contributions. I believe I have only received a pension based on my contributions, which cannot be right.”
Webb elaborated on the rules for inheriting a partner’s state pension to encourage more widows and widowers to check if they could claim any pension from a deceased spouse.
Widow mistakenly denied late husband’s pension
Britons can inherit a state pension if their partners made National Insurance contributions. The inherited state pension can be claimed once the surviving spouse reaches state pension age, without needing to wait until their late spouse would have reached that age. There are tighter rules under the new state pension system than under the pre-2016 system.
Widows who do not qualify for a full pension on their own may still inherit a state pension. However, Britons cannot inherit anything if they remarry or form a new civil partnership before reaching state pension age. Some may be entitled to extra payments from their deceased spouse’s or civil partner’s state pension, depending on their National Insurance Contributions and the date they reached the state pension age.
Those who haven’t reached state pension age yet might also be eligible for bereavement benefits. A DWP spokesperson said: “We want to ensure pensioners receive all the support to which they are entitled and have tools to help them understand what state pension they can inherit. Delays can occur to a customer’s state pension award when we lack necessary information.
In such cases, we will make an initial state pension award based on the customer’s own National Insurance record until we have the required information. Once obtained, we will revise the claim as soon as possible.”
People are urged to seek free advice from the Pension Service to see if they can increase their payments.
- GBNews.”State pension inheritance explained as widow told she doesn’t qualify as her late husband died too young”.
- ThisIsMoney.”DWP told me I can’t inherit state pension because my late husband died too young – is that true?”.
- Yahoo.”How your State Pension is affected after death and what your partner could inherit”.