Grandmother lost out on £9k

JEAN HAYES, 75, should have had her pension increased from £60.72 a week to £77.45 when her husband Richard, 77, retired in 2008.

Her family were suspicious she was not getting enough but she says the DWP had reassured them she was getting the correct amount.

Yet mother-of-two Mrs Hayes, who lives near Andover, Hampshire, has now received £8,822.41 after the department eventually admitted it had been paying her a lower rate for 12 years.

The retired retail worker says: ‘I am pleased I have got it back at last, but I am cross because I could have used that money over the years.

‘It would have made a difference. I could have gone on better holidays. Now I might be too old.’