THOUSANDS OWED TO OAP DIVORCEE WOMEN

TENS of thousands of women who divorced AFTER reaching state pension age could be missing out on huge sums of money.

Before the system changed in 2016, a divorcee with less than 60 per cent of her husband’s basic state pension was entitled to a boost to that level.

That meant a woman previously on the standard “married woman’s rate” of £80.45 could instead get £134.25 if her husband had a full contribution record. Over a 20-year retirement, this could increase her state pension by more than £50,000.

For women in this category who divorced (and did not remarry) before state pension age, such a boost should automatically have taken place when she claimed her state pension.

But for women who divorced after retirement, there’s no automatic process. Now analysis by ex-pensions minister Steve Webb has found there are about 100,000 women OAPs currently divorced who are not receiving a full basic state pension.

Many will be women who divorced before pension age and who are not getting a full pension even with the benefit of an ex-husband’s NI contributions. But a significant minority are likely to be women who divorced after pension age and have not yet been reassessed.

Webb is urging women who divorced over pension age to notify the Department for Work and Pensions for a review.

He said: “Every year thousands of women over state pension age get divorced but many may not be aware that they can qualify for a state pension boost as a result.

“Worringly, even some financial advisers, lawyers and DWP call handlers seem to be unaware of the rules.”