DWP told me I can't inherit state pension because my late husband died too young - is that true?

What does the DWP say? Scroll down to read its response

By STEVE WEBB, PENSIONS EXPERT AND COLUMNIST, THIS IS MONEY

Updated: 02:58 EDT, 19 August 2024

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State pension: DWP told me I cannot inherit from my late husband because he died before he started receiving it

I have been a widow since 2008, when my husband passed away. He was in his late 50s and not claiming his state pension.

Whilst working he paid full contributions via salary from age 16 until he retired due to his illness.

He served in the military then in a civilian job.

I worked until our marriage, when my military career ended and I was a military wife. Then I also took a civilian job, and retired when my husband was diagnosed and hospitalised. We both also had private pensions.

After my husband's death I contacted the local Job Centre to ask about my pension contribution and if I was required to attend work to increase my contributions, as I was not eligible for my state pension until age 60.

I was informed to request a quote from the DWP which I did. I was also informed by the Job Centre that I would not receive any pension at all from my husband's contributions.

I received a quote from the DWP with only my contributions. As a result I did then take on agency work for approximately four years, again paying contributions.

I then applied for my state pension online and was informed that I did not qualify for a pension until I was 62.

Two years later I applied online again for my pension, and followed this up with a telephone call regarding my pension. I was informed that I would only qualify for my pension based on my contributions.

I queried this and was then put through to a widows' pension adviser, who clarified that as my husband had not claimed his pension but had passed away before he could make the claim I could not claim any of his contributions.

I believe that I have only received my state pension based on my contributions, which cannot be right. Could you please investigate my claim to clarify that this is all correct.

SCROLL DOWN TO FIND OUT HOW TO ASK STEVE YOUR PENSION QUESTION

Got a question for Steve Webb? Scroll down to find out how to contact him

Steve Webb replies: Following our recent story about widows and widowers potentially missing out on inherited state pension, we have received a deluge of messages from readers telling their stories.

Unfortunately, many of them, like yourself, have been given incorrect information on the phone by Department for Work and Pensions staff.

So in this week's column, I will start by offering some 'myth busters' covering things which people are being told on the phone which simply are not true, before moving on to your specific situation.

MYTH 1: 'You cannot inherit because your late spouse didn't reach pension age'

Although you were told this by a specialist adviser, this is simply untrue.

If your late spouse sadly didn't reach pension age they will still have made National Insurance contributions and those contributions may generate a pension which in part can be inherited.

MYTH 2: 'You have to wait until your loved one would have reached pension age'

This is also untrue. Provided that you are over pension age yourself, you don't have to wait until your late spouse would have reached pension age before you can inherit.

MYTH 3: 'You cannot inherit if you are on the new state pension'

Whilst it is true that the rules on inheritance are tighter under the new state pension system than under the pre-2016 system, it is still possible to get an inherited top-up to your new state pension.

The two main cases where this can happen are:

- If your late spouse died before 6 April 2016 or reached pension age before that date, you can inherit at least 50 per cent of any 'additional' state pension they built up;

- If your late spouse reached pension age after 5 April 2016 and died after that date, you can still inherit if they had built up a particularly large state pension by 2016; this extra amount is called a 'protected payment'.

MYTH 4: 'You cannot inherit if you don't qualify for a pension in your own right'

Again, not true. The case study featured in our recent story was of a lady who didn't have enough UK contributions to get a pension in her own right, but who had been wrongly denied the inherited state pension she was due.

It turned out she should have been receiving more than £2,000 per year – all of it inherited pension.

Are you entitled to inherit state pension from your late husband?

Turning now to your case, as explained above, the fact that your late husband sadly died before reaching pension age does not stop you being potentially entitled to inherit from him.

As you both come (or came) under the old state pension, there are several ways in which your late husband's contributions can benefit you:

- If you would not otherwise have a full (100 per cent) basic state pension, your late husband's contributions can be used to bring you up to the full figure, currently £169.50 per week;

- If your late husband built up any rights under the 'graduated retirement benefit' scheme (which ran between 1961 and 1975) you can inherit 50 per cent of this;

STEVE WEBB ANSWERS YOUR PENSION QUESTIONS

- If your late husband built up any rights to 'additional state pension' (known as Serps or State Second Pension) you can inherit 50 per cent of this.

It seems to me that there are three possibilities here.

1. You are actually getting an inherited amount (despite what you were told) but this is not clear to you.

This is because when you receive your pension information the DWP often doesn't separately identify which part comes from your late husband's contributions.

2. You are theoretically entitled to inherit, but that actually your late husband didn't have any 'additional' state pension for you to inherit.

This could be, for example, that during his military service he was in the 'contracted out' Armed Forces Pension Scheme, and he built up rights in that scheme instead of in the state scheme.

Even in this case, it's possible for people with low and moderate earnings in contracted out schemes to build up additional state pension from 2002 onwards, so it is worth checking.

3. There is an error and you have missed out.

I will ask you for sight of the paperwork that you have and we will have a look to see if things seem to be in order or not.

For anyone wondering what entitlement they might have to inherited state pension, the tool which LCP has prepared to help answer this question can be found here: Inherited state pension for widows and widowers.

What does the DWP say?

'We want to ensure pensioners receive all the support to which they are entitled and have a tool to help them understand what state pension they can inherit,' says a DWP spokesperson.

'Delays can occur to a customer's state pension award when not all the information we need is provided. In these cases, we will make a state pension award based on the customer's own National Insurance record until we have the required information.

'Once we have the necessary documentation, we will then revise the customer's claim as soon as possible.'

Ask Steve Webb a pension question

Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb is This Is Money's agony uncle.

He is ready to answer your questions, whether you are still saving, in the process of stopping work, or juggling your finances in retirement.

Steve left the Department for Work and Pensions after the May 2015 election. He is now a partner at actuary and consulting firm Lane Clark & Peacock.

If you would like to ask Steve a question about pensions, please email him at pensionquestions@thisismoney.co.uk.

Steve will do his best to reply to your message in a forthcoming column, but he won't be able to answer everyone or correspond privately with readers. Nothing in his replies constitutes regulated financial advice. Published questions are sometimes edited for brevity or other reasons.

Please include a daytime contact number with your message - this will be kept confidential and not used for marketing purposes.

If Steve is unable to answer your question, you can also contact MoneyHelper, a Government-backed organisation which gives free assistance on pensions to the public. It can be found here and its number is 0800 011 3797.

Steve receives many questions about state pension forecasts and COPE – the Contracted Out Pension Equivalent. If you are writing to Steve on this topic, he responds to a typical reader question about COPE and the state pension here.

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