I read an article on the BBC news page this morning (8/4/21) about very elderly women who have slipped through the DWP net and been denied the pensions they are due . By the DWPs own reckoning there are many women whose pensions are assessed at a paltry £1.00 a week although they are actually entitled to about three quarters of the amount of the standard pension as they qualify through their husband’s contributions. The DWPs own estimate is 5000 women who are entitled not only to the current pension but also entitled to back payments , sometimes of many thousands of pounds. The woman they cite in the article was entitled to over £60,000.
The DWP has admitted it can’t trace these women (ours not to wonder why since they are currently paying peanuts into their bank accounts) despite putting their own investigators on the case. Cynics amongst us might think they are hoping these poor women drop off the perch before the investigators get to them.
Well, I reckon the Mumsnet posse could do the job a lot faster. How about it MNHQ, is there any way we could start a campaign to publicise this, encourage posters to check with elderly relatives to see if they are eligible and get ball rolling.
Women have been shafted by the DWP in so many ways, it would be good to fight back.