The Parliamentary Ombudsman has launched an investigation into an issue which has seen tens of thousands of married women miss out on pension payments.
The outcome of this investigation could see the government pay out hundreds of millions of pounds in state pension arrears, according to consultancy LCP, which has campaigned to resolve the issue.
It will look at a sample of seven 'lead cases' brought to the ombudsman with the support of LCP partner Steve Webb, alongside other complainants on the same issue.
If there is a successful outcome, LCP said there is the potential for a ruling to apply not just to the lead complainants but to all of the women who have lost out, including thousands who died without ever receiving the correct pension.
The issue, which is unrelated to the Waspi state pension equalisation issue, involves a large group of married women who reached pension age under the old state pension system but who may have missed out on thousands of pounds because of the system.
Until March 2008, married women could claim a state pension at 60 but were initially awarded a pension based purely on their own record of NI contributions.
This could initially be low if they had spent time out of work looking after their family.
But when their husband drew their state pension, married women could get an uplift to a 60 per cent pension based on their husband’s contribution.
But this uplift only happened if they made a further state pension application once their husband retired.
Many women assumed that having once applied for their state pension they would be paid the correct rate and they did not know about having to apply a second time.
Therefore if the married woman did not make a second claim she would stay on the lower pension. If they then found out about the potential to increase their pension, they would only be allowed to backdate this increase for one year.
Webb has been helping these women with complaints of ‘maladministration’ first to the Department for Work and Pensions, then to the Independent Case Examiner and now finally to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
He said: “This is a major milestone in a long-running campaign for justice for thousands of married women. I am delighted that the Parliamentary Ombudsman has decided to undertake an in-depth investigation into these complaints.
“In my view these women fell victim to a fundamentally sexist and archaic system which relied largely on married men ticking boxes and passing on claim forms to their wives.
“The women I have spoken to are all intelligent people who do not ignore official correspondence and who would clearly have claimed their uplifted pension if they had realised a second claim was needed once their husband retired.
