The DWP told me I can’t inherit the state pension because my late husband died too young. Is that true?

I have been a widow since 2008, when my husband died. He was over 50 and not receiving his state pension.

While working, he paid full contributions through his salary from the age of 16 until he retired due to illness.

He served in the army and then took up civilian employment.

I worked until we got married, when my military career ended and I became a military wife. I then also took a civilian job and retired when my husband was diagnosed and hospitalized. We both had private pensions.

Following my husband’s death, I contacted the local jobcentre to enquire about my pension contribution and whether I should attend work to top up my contributions as I was not eligible for my state pension until I was 60.

I was told that I should apply for a DWP contribution, which I did. The jobcentre also informed me that I would not receive any pension from my husband’s contributions.

I received a DWP quote with only my contributions. As a result, I took a temporary job for about four years, again paying contributions.

I then applied for my state pension online and was told I was not eligible for it until I was 62.

Two years later, I applied for my pension online again and then called to find out that I could only receive it based on my contributions.

I enquired about this and was then put in touch with a widow’s pension adviser who clarified that as my husband had not claimed his pension but had died before he could make a claim, I could not claim any of his contributions.

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

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Steve Webb answers: Following our recent story about widows and widowers who could lose their inherited state pension, we have been inundated with messages from readers telling their stories.

Unfortunately, many of them, like you, have received incorrect information over the phone from Department for Work and Pensions staff.

So, in this week’s column, I’ll start by offering some “mythbusters” covering things people are told on the phone that simply aren’t true, before moving on to your specific situation.

MYTH 1: “You cannot inherit because your deceased spouse did not reach retirement age”

Even if a specialist advisor has told you this, it is simply false.

If your deceased spouse unfortunately did not reach retirement age, he or she will still have made National Insurance contributions and those contributions may generate a pension, some of which can be inherited.

MYTH 2: “You have to wait until your loved one reaches retirement age”

This is also not true. If you have already reached retirement age, you do not have to wait for your deceased spouse to reach retirement age in order to inherit.

MYTH 3: “You cannot inherit if you receive the new state pension”

While it is true that inheritance rules are stricter in the new state pension system than in the pre-2016 system, it is still possible to obtain an inherited top-up to your new state pension.

The two main cases where this can happen are:

– If your deceased 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 have built up;

– If your deceased spouse reached pension age after 5 April 2016 and died after that date, they may still inherit if they had built up a particularly large state pension for 2016 – this extra amount is called a “protected payment”.

MYTH 4: “You cannot inherit if you are not entitled to a pension”

Again, not true. The case study featured in our recent article is that of a woman who had not made enough contributions to the UK to qualify for a pension in her own right, but who had been unfairly denied the inherited state pension to which she was entitled.

It turned out that he should have received more than £2,000 a year, all from his inherited pension.

Are you entitled to inherit your late husband’s state pension?

Now returning to your case, as explained above, the fact that your late husband unfortunately passed away before reaching retirement age does not prevent you from potentially being entitled to inherit from him.

As you are both (or were) on the old state pension, there are several ways in which your late husband’s contributions can benefit you:

– If you would not otherwise receive a full basic state pension (100 per cent), your late husband’s contributions can be used to reach the full figure, currently £169.50 per week;

– If your late husband accrued rights under the “graduated retirement benefit” plan (which operated between 1961 and 1975), you can inherit 50 percent of them;

– If your late husband built up any entitlement to an ‘additional state pension’ (known as Serps or Second State Pension), you may inherit 50 per cent of this.

It seems to me that there are three possibilities here.

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

This is because when you receive your pension information, the DWP often does not separately identify which portion comes from your late husband’s contributions.

2. In theory, you are entitled to inherit, but in reality your late husband had no “additional” state pension that you could inherit.

This could happen, for example, if during your military service you were in the “external” Armed Forces Pension System and accrued rights in that system instead of in the state system.

Even then, it is possible for low and moderate earners on outsourced schemes to build up an additional state pension from 2002, so it is worth checking.

3. There is a mistake and you missed it.

I will ask him to show me the documentation he has and we will take a look to see if things seem to be in order or not.

For anyone wondering what entitlement they might have to their inherited state pension, the tool LCP has put together 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 that retirees receive all the support they are entitled to and have a Tool to help you understand how much state pension you may inherit.‘ says a DWP spokesperson.

‘Delays in granting a client’s State Pension may occur where not all the information we require is provided. In these cases, we will award the State Pension based on the client’s National Insurance history until we have the necessary information.

“Once we have the necessary documentation, we will review the customer’s claim as soon as possible.”