Married women’s pension windfall: full pension eligibility

The married women’s pension windfall refers to underpayments in the UK state pension system affecting married women depending on their National Insurance contribution record. However, prior to the new State pension coming into force, a vast number of underpayments have occurred. As such, an estimated 230,000 women may be due a married woman's pension windfall.

Why is there a married women’s pension windfall?

The underpayments were due to a computer error and to the DWP's failure to increase women's state pension payments. The increases became payable when their husbands reached state pension age, or they reached the age of eighty, or they died.

Underpayments were first highlighted in 2020. Since then, the DWP has been reimbursing eligible women. Furthermore, since January 2021, an official repayment scheme has been in place.

Women most likely to have received underpayments include widows, divorcees and those who rely on their husbands' pension contributions for part of their pension entitlement. Others include those aged eighty or over and those who reached state pension age before April 2016.

The underpayments apply only to women whose state pension age was before April 2016. If your state pension age is after April 2016, you will be receiving the new state pension. As such, the underpayment is not applicable.

Who is eligible for the married women’s pension windfall?

This is a key group affected by the married women’s pension windfall.

Married women with low state pension entitlement who may qualify for a married woman’s pension windfall. The low entitlement was due to gaps in their National Insurance contributions. This is relevant if they were entitled to a state pension based on their husband's National Insurance contributions. At the husband's state pension age, the wife could draw the pension and receive 60% of the basic pension rate. This change is part of the married women’s pension windfall corrections. However, before this date, the married woman had to claim the extra payment.

Widows

Under the married women’s pension windfall, widows should have seen an increase in their pension payments following the death of their husbands. Depending on the husband's national insurance contribution record, they should have been receiving up to 100% of the basic state pension. In addition, at least 50% of his additional state pension.

Women who divorced after retirement

• Women who divorced after retirement, if they did not remarry.
• Women aged 80 or older.
• Women who are 80 years of age or older. This applies regardless of their National Insurance record, provided they pass a basic residency test.
• Widowers, sons, and daughters of underpaid women.
• Widowers, sons, and daughters of women who were underpaid during their lives. This is particularly true for husbands who reached sixty-five after March 2008.
  
  

Women receiving the graduated retirement benefit (GRB)

 This is £1 a week and ran from 1961 to 1975. Recent records show that almost 24,000 women are getting GRB.

How many women are affected by the married women’s pension windfall?

Although the DWP says it wrote to all affected women, many claim they did not receive the letter. As a result, many women may still be due thousands of pounds. Furthermore, thousands of women have died without receiving the correct level of payment. These historic errors are the main cause of the married women’s pension windfall.

Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister, has estimated that over 230,000 women have been underpaid by the DWP.

He said: “The vast majority of those who lost were women, some of whom were underpaid for decades or even went to their grave having never been paid the right state pension. The remaining corrections are a matter of urgency. This should never be allowed to happen again."

 How much money is paid under the married women’s pension windfall?

Many women are now receiving significant back payments under the married women’s pension windfall. The latest data from the DWP in March 2025 shows that £804.7 million has already been paid since the correction exercise began in January 2021.

The DWP also released an update on progress. This relates to the State Pension Underpayments Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practice (LEAP) exercise.

The update shows that 130,948 pensioners over state pension age have received back payments. These payments range from £2,192 to £12,486, depending on their pension bracket. Furthermore, most cases relate to women.

Of the 130,948, over 50,000 were widows or widowers, 47,000 were married women, and 34,000 were over 80 years of age.

Is there an investigation into married women’s pension windfall?

This issue led to the married women’s pension windfall investigation they had to make a second claim to uplift their pension once their husband retired. As such, the Parliamentary Ombudsman launched an investigation.

The only notification that married women had to claim was on their husbands' state pension forms.

In March 2008, the rules were subject to a change. From this date onward, the uplift occurred automatically.

Steve Webb called the investigation a "major milestone."

He said, “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."

How can a woman check her married women’s pension windfall entitlement?

The easiest way to obtain this information is by contacting the pension service on 0800 731 0469. Alternatively, you can write to them.

The Pension Service
Post Handling Site A
Wolverhampton
WV98 1AF.

You will need the following:

• Your name, date of birth, and your National Insurance number.
• Your current basic state pension.
• Your husband's name, date of birth and date of death if applicable, and his National Insurance number.
• His current basic state pension or his last basic state pension before his death.

A DWP spokesperson said: “The action we are taking now will correct historical underpayments made by successive governments. We are fully committed to addressing these errors, not identified under previous governments, as quickly as possible."

How much state pension does a woman receive?

Women born on or after 6 April 1953 are entitled to the new state pension. The level of pension depends on how many years of national insurance you have paid. To receive the full state pension, you must have made 35 years of contributions.

In 2025/26, the full state pension is £230.25 per week.

Women born before 6 April 1953 can claim the older state pension, currently £176.45.

State pension age for women

The state pension age has been altered. As such, it applies equally to men and women, currently standing at 66.

• For people born in or after April 1960, the state pension age will rise to sixty-seven.
• For those born after April 1977, it will rise to sixty-eight.
• Both women and men who have private or workplace pensions can access their schemes from the age of fifty-five. However, this is changing to 57 in 2028.
  
  

What is WASPI?

WASPI stands for the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign. In addition to the DWP's error, women have been fighting for compensation over changes to the state pension age. WASPI, set up in 2015, aims to get justice for all women born in the 1950s. This applies if the changes to the state pension age affects them.

The state pension began in 1948. Until 1995, women could claim their state pension at age 60. At the same time, men had to wait until they were sixty-five.

1995 Pensions Act

However, 1995 saw the introduction of the Pensions Act. This act gradually increases the state pension age between 2010 and 2020. Furthermore, 2011 saw a new Pensions Act, shortening the time span by two years to increase women's pension age to sixty-five. Also, the act changed the pension age to sixty-six for everyone by October 2020. These changes affect many women born in the 1950s. However, many claim they received no notice of the changes from the DWP.

Women who had little or no notice of the changes claim they had no time to plan for retirement, and as such, WASPI are asking for compensation.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

On the 21 March 2024, saw the publishing of a report following a five-year investigation by The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. The recommendation was that parliament intervene and establish a compensation scheme. Furthermore, the recommendation was that compensation for women affected should range from £1,000 to £2,950. Whereas WASPI suggest the worst affected should receive in excess of £10,000.

On 17 December 2024, Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, rejected the recommendation for a flat-rate compensation scheme. She also claims that 90% of women affected were aware of the changes.

However, the fight continues, and WASPI hope to raise enough funds to take the case to the High Court for judicial review.

Summary of married women’s pension windfall scheme

The married women’s pension windfall shows that many women are entitled to a full or corrected pension are entitled to a full pension or to a pension higher than they currently receive. If you have any doubts, contact the pension service, which can help clarify your entitlement. If you are unsure whether you are receiving the correct pension, you could be missing out on a married woman’s pension windfall.

Also, a financial advisor can help you through the process. We collaborate with financial advisors throughout the UK and always aim to assign an advisor local to you. As such, finding an advisor could not be easier than using Regulated Advice.