A man who was left £5,000 short in state pension payments was given just £50 by the DWP in compensation. Merrick Ratcliffe, 68, has been left £4,978 short in payments after issues with claiming his cash from the DWP.
He was offered just £50 as a special payment from the DWP for his troubles, which he told This Is Money was a “derisory” amount to receive.
He first claimed his state pension when he reached the state pension age, which is currently 66 for both men and women.
But then he decided to reverse this decision and defer claiming, saying he received “misinformation from the DWP at the time.
He applied for the benefit again last October but his payments didn’t begin. He made several phone calls and two complaints to try and get his payments.
He told This Is Money last month that his application was “no further forward” evern though “all required information is complete”.
The man then received £4,978 but with no paperwork to explain his situation, and he is still waiting for his enhanced monthly payments to begin.
A DWP spokesperson said: “We are sorry for the delay issuing Mr Ratcliffe’s state pension and we have now finalised his claim and issued arrears. Where errors do occur, we are committed to fixing them as soon as possible.”
State pension payments increased 8.5 percent from this month, with the full new state pension increasing from £203.85 a week to £221.20 a week.
Britons have been urged to check if they can boost their state pension by voluntarily paying National Insurance contributions.
Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at Bestinvest by Evelyn Partners, said topping up could be “one of the best retirement decisions you make”.
She commented: “Checking your tax account for any gaps in your National Insurance record quickly identifies whether you have enough qualifying years to receive a full state pension – a valuable source of income considering the full new state pension rose by 8.5 percent earlier this month and is now worth £11,502 a year.
“The state pension forecast calculator stored in your Personal Tax Account states what year you will receive your state pension, the amount you will receive weekly, monthly and per year (without factoring in inflation) according to your current and projected contribution level, and a forecast of what you will receive if you continue to pay in.”
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