DWP urges specific group of older people to check for State Pension compensation
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is inviting pensioners who lived abroad between April 6, 2010 and April 6, 2020, who feel they may have been 'adversely affected' by the ending of the State Pension Adult Dependency Increase (ADI), to contact them as they could be eligible for compensation.
Adult Dependency Increases were extra amounts of money paid to State Pensioners who had a dependent spouse below State Pension age. No new claims for ADI were allowed over the 10-year period already mentioned (April 6, 2010 - April 6, 2020).
The DWP informed people living in Great Britain and abroad that their ADI would be ending. However, earlier this year the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found that DWP did not communicate this information in a reasonable timeframe to people living abroad and that this was maladministration.
The PHSO found no fault in the way DWP communicated with people living in Great Britain.
DWP said: 'If you feel you were adversely affected by the removal of an ADI, due to when you received notification after 6 April 2010 that it was going to end, then you may be eligible for compensation.'
The PHSO report said: 'The number of those who were living abroad and entitled to ADI is unknown but in May 2019, a year before ADI ended, DWP told Parliament that 10,817 people were still in receipt of ADI.'
Commenting at the time of the published report in January, Rebecca Hilsenrath, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, said: 'Poor communication from Government departments damages trust in public services.
'DWP has a history of failing to communicate pension policy changes clearly and failing to learn from its mistakes.'
Ms Hilsenrath highlighted the case of Adrian Furnival, 82, and his wife Sheila, 67, who moved to Brittany in 1994, however, Adrian found out in 2018 through the annual DWP uprating letter that from 2020 he would no longer receive Adult Dependency Increase payments.
The PHSO said this meant he would be over £250 a month worse off.
The Ombudsman added: 'In Adrian's case, this meant that, without the right information, he lost the opportunity to prepare for his retirement. It also caused him unnecessary financial worry.
'Anyone who believes they have had a similar experience to Adrian should contact DWP. DWP has complied with our recommendations and will provide a comparable remedy to anyone who approaches them with a similar situation.'
Eligibility
You may be entitled to a compensation payment if all the following apply:
you received an ADI
your ADI payments were stopped on April 6, 2020
you were living outside Great Britain for any period of time from April 6, 2010 to April 6, 2020
you are able to say how the timing of the notification about the removal of an ADI had an adverse impact on you
What you need to do
DWP guidance explains that you will need to contact the Department and provide the following information:
your full name
your date of birth
your National Insurance number
the date you moved abroad
address(es) you were living at between April 6, 2010 and April 6, 2020
information about how you have been negatively affected by the timing of the notification
Full details on how to contact the Pension Service can be found on GOV.UK here.
You can also read the full guidance on ADI compensation on GOV.UK here.
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