The Department for Work and Pensions has been warned that millions of pounds could be lost in unpaid State Pensions. A former pensions minister says justice could be denied to families if details are erased from the Government database.
Sir Steve Webb, now a partner at Lane Clark & Peacock, is concerned that Government policies for deleting old State Pension records could block families from claiming money owed from underpayment errors. He says this would make it “virtually impossible” to fix long-standing administrative mistakes.
The DWP normally deletes pension files four years after a person dies, but this process was paused in 2021 after huge State Pension underpayment errors were uncovered — mainly affecting married women, widows, and the over-80s.
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Sir Steve said if the deletion embargo is lifted, up to two million records of deaths between 2017 and 2020 could be wiped. That could make it harder for families to check whether loved ones were underpaid, even in cases where money is still owed to their estates.
Government data shows 194,000 people were affected by missing home responsibilities protection, a scheme designed to protect the State Pension rights of parents and carers. Of those, 43,000 people died without ever receiving what they were owed – an estimated £127 million in lost payments.
A DWP spokesperson said the department has paused deletions while ongoing correction work continues and has already paid £900 million in arrears to over 900,000 pensioners. However, no decision has been made on when or whether deletions will restart.
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