Underpaid State Pension for women: how to check if you’re owed money

Thousands of women, including married women, widows and some women aged over 80, have been underpaid State Pension because of historic errors.

Find out who may be affected, how to check if your State Pension is correct, and whether you could be due a back payment.

Has my state pension been underpaid?

If you're a woman who reached State Pension age (SPA) before April 2016, it is certainly possible.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) predicts that tens of thousands of married, divorced, and widowed women have had their State Pension underpaid in error.

The issue was first brought to wider attention by pensions consultancy Lane, Clark & Peacock (LCP) in May 2020.

Since then, the DWP has reimbursed women, and an official repayment programme began on 11 January 2021. And there's a lot of money at stake.

Between January 2021 and March 2025, the DWP identified 130,948 State Pension underpayments, with £804.7 million owed in arrears.

The DWP now estimates that around 135,000 pensioners were underpaid a total of £906 million, with a small number of outstanding cases still being dealt with and the final total expected to be confirmed by the end of 2026.

The underpayments affected several groups, including married women whose State Pension was not increased when their husband reached State Pension age, widows whose pension was not correctly increased after their husband died, and some people aged over 80 who were paid less than they were entitled to.

There’s also a separate issue where Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) was incorrectly missed from the national insurance records of some - mostly female - parents and carers, which has also resulted in pension underpayment.

HRP was designed to protect the State Pension entitlement of parents and carers between 1978 and 2010.

However, if you claimed Child Benefit before May 2000 and your National Insurance number was not included on the claim, HRP may not have been recorded correctly.

Why might some women be owed more state pension?

Different groups of women may have been underpaid for various reasons. Some underpayment types only affect women who reached State Pension age before April 2016.

If you reached State Pension age after that date, you're on the new State Pension system, so these particular underpayment issues don't apply. However, you could still be affected by the separate HRP issue explained above.

One group of women who stand to gain are those who currently get, on average, a mere £1 per week under something known as the graduated retirement benefit (GRB), which ran under the former State Pension system from 1961 to 1975.

GRB is an earnings-related benefit from the former graduated National Insurance scheme, which ran between 1961 and 1975. DWP advises people aged over 80 who receive GRB only to contact the Pension Service, as they may be entitled to more State Pension.

The missing State Pension benefits also affect:

• Married women who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016: If your own National Insurance record did not give you a full basic State Pension, you may have been entitled to an increase based on your husband’s National Insurance contributions.

• Married women whose husbands reached State Pension age before 17 March 2008: Before this date, women generally had to make a claim to receive the increase based on their husband’s National Insurance record. If you did not claim at the time, you may still want to check your entitlement with the Pension Service.

• Married women whose husbands reached State Pension age on or after 17 March 2008: Following a change in the law, some women should have had their State Pension automatically reviewed and increased. Some underpayments occurred because this did not happen.

The separate HRP issue affects those who claimed Child Benefit before May 2000 but whose National Insurance number was not included on the claim, meaning that HRP eligibility may not have been recorded correctly. Those in this situation have gaps in their National Insurance records resulting in lower State Pensions. 

Between January 2024 and March 2025, the DWP identified 12,379 State Pension underpayments linked to missing HRP and paid around £104 million in arrears. The average arrears identified were £8,377.

How much unpaid state pension could I be owed?

How much you could be owed depends on your individual circumstances, including how much State Pension you received, how much you should have received and how long you were underpaid.

For the 2026/27 tax year, the full basic State Pension is £184.90 a week, while the lower basic State Pension rate for someone qualifying through their spouse or civil partner’s National Insurance record is £110.75 a week.

DWP figures give an indication of the sums involved. In its completed State Pension underpayment exercise, average arrears were £5,553 for married-person cases, £11,725 for widowed cases and £2,203 for people aged over 80.

If your husband deferred his State Pension, this may also affect the amount of arrears you are entitled to.

How do I check to see if I'm owed state pension?

Contact the Pension Service online or call on 0800 731 0469.

Make sure you have the following details to hand:

• Your name, date of birth, and NI number.

• Current annual basic state pension. You should be able to find this on your latest annual statement, but if not, give the total weekly or monthly amount.

• Your husband's name, date of birth (and date of death if this applies), and NI number.

• Your husband’s current basic state pension, or last known before he died.

You'll then be told whether you're receiving less than you're entitled to.

What about if I’m missing HRP?

If you think missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) may have affected your State Pension, you can check your eligibility and apply for missing HRP through HMRC.

This may be particularly relevant if you claimed Child Benefit before May 2000, as your National Insurance number may not have been recorded on your claim. You may also qualify for HRP for periods when you were caring for a sick or disabled person.

If your application is successful, HMRC will update your National Insurance record. If you are already receiving State Pension, the DWP will then recalculate your entitlement and pay any arrears you are owed.

Underpaid state pension checklist: who can claim?

You may want to check your State Pension entitlement if you fall into one of the following groups:

• Married women who reached State Pension age before April 2016: Some women may have missed increases based on their husband’s National Insurance record, particularly where their husband reached State Pension age before 17 March 2008.

• Widows: Your State Pension may not have been correctly increased when your husband died, or you may have been underpaid while he was still alive.

• Divorced women: If you reached State Pension age before April 2016, your pension may in some circumstances be based partly on your former husband’s National Insurance record. It is worth checking that your entitlement was correctly calculated.

• People aged over 80: Some people were underpaid because they did not receive the correct Category D State Pension, which is available subject to certain eligibility and residence rules.

• People with missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP): If you spent time caring for children or someone who was sick or disabled, HRP may be missing from your National Insurance record. This is particularly worth checking if you claimed Child Benefit before May 2000.

• Families and executors of someone who has died and who fell into these categories: If someone was underpaid State Pension during their lifetime, arrears may in some circumstances be payable to their estate or beneficiaries.

If you think you may have been affected, contact the Pension Service to check your State Pension entitlement. If you think the problem is missing HRP, check your National Insurance record and apply to HMRC to have any missing HRP corrected.

Get expert pension advice

Thousands of women have received back payments after errors resulted in them being paid less State Pension than they were entitled to.

Married women, widows, people aged over 80 and people with missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) are among those who may have been affected.

If you think your State Pension has been underpaid, contact the Pension Service to check your entitlement, or HMRC if you think HRP is missing from your National Insurance record.

If an underpayment changes your retirement income or leaves you with a significant lump sum, Unbiased can connect you with a financial adviser who can help you understand how it could affect your wider retirement finances.

If you found this article useful, you might also find our articles exploring why women tend to be better investors than men and the world's richest women informative, too.