State pension MELTDOWN: Desperate new pensioners rage at bungling DWP after waiting MONTHS to start receiving paymentsFurious savers have condemned woeful incompetence by the Department for Work and Pensions over long delays to state pension payments.
After This is Money exclusively revealed a service meltdown at the DWP, despairing elderly people trying to get payments started or end deferments have inundated us with stories and pleas for help.
Maureen Finch, 69, who has received no income since retiring in April, says 'the stress is unbearable, and I have forgotten what a night's sleep is'.
She and her husband David (pictured), who is in poor health, will reach their golden wedding anniversary next month but cannot afford to have a meal out or see family at the moment.
Another reader has struggled to get his pension since turning 66 in early July, after the DWP mislaid his claim form and failed to send a replacement despite numerous requests.
'I cannot face calling up the DWP again,' he says, and like several other readers he has now asked his MP to step in on his behalf.
After This is Money got involved and tackled the DWP for readers, some of them finally received their payments.
Many elderly people complain of long waiting times when contacting the DWP, getting repeatedly cut off, being promised callbacks that never happen, and receiving empty assurances that cases will be escalated.
Some say they have no income at all and cannot pay essential bills - in some instances because their disability benefit stopped as soon as they reached state pension age - but claim DWP staff who were told this have still failed to help them.
The state pension is paid four weeks in arrears when it first begins, but delays have stretched for a further month and sometimes several more in these cases.
At the end of last week, Labour MP Andrew Gwynne asked the DWP 'whether there have been any reported delays in processing initial payments for those who have reached state pension age'.
Pensions Minister Guy Opperman said in a written response: 'Normal service will be resumed by the end of October 2021.
'The Department is working hard to clear backlogs which have occurred by reason of the Covid Pandemic and staffing issues which have now been rectified. Hundreds of additional staff are currently being redeployed.'
Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb, who is now a partner at LCP, said: 'The DWP should have been honest and open months ago that they were having problems processing new claims.
'They are still refusing to say how many thousands of people have been left in limbo. People reaching pension age should not have to make repeated phone calls just to get the money to which they are entitled.
'Anyone who has faced an unreasonable wait should definitely escalate the issue via their MP who should take it up with the DWP.
'The more MPs who understand the scale of the problem the more Parliamentary pressure will be put on the DWP to get things sorted out.'
Labour’s Shadow Pensions Minister, Matt Rodda MP, said: 'It beggars belief that the Government have not paid people the state pensions they are entitled to on time.
'People work hard all their lives and deserve to be able to retire on time. That new pensioners are facing months of delays shows the incompetence of this Conservative government. Ministers must get a grip and fix this issue.'