Pensioners told to use foodbanks after delays in paying their pensions...
Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2021 6:54 pm
State pension delays pushed retiree into arrears on her rent
Pensioners have been left in financial distress after widespread delays with state pension payments during the pandemic has led to growing backlogs.
People turning 66, the minimum state pension age, have waited months for their pension to start paying out, despite making numerous calls to the Department for Work and Pensions to rectify the issue. The DWP has admitted to problem delays.
Guy Opperman, the pensions minister, told Parliament there were backlogs in initial state pension payments due to “staffing issues” during the pandemic. Normal service would not be resumed until the end of October, he said, though hundreds of additional staff have been brought onboard to tackle the issue.
Sue Lockett, 68, said her sister was reduced to tears after a DWP official told her she “wouldn’t starve” and “there were plenty of food banks around” while she waited for £1,590 in overdue payments.
Mrs Lockett, who acted on behalf of her sister Jean Walton, said no money had arrived in her account since her 66th birthday on June 30. That is despite helping her apply for her state pension three months in advance to ensure there would be no issues. Mrs Walton failed to meet her rent payments following the delay.
“I told the DWP she had never been behind with her rent for the past 30 years and would be in arrears for the first time through no fault of her own.,” Mrs Lockett said. “I told them she was struggling to pay her bills and food from her savings, which have now gone. One DWP assistant told me that she ‘won’t starve as there are plenty of food banks nearby’. I was disgusted for them to even suggest that.
Mrs Lockett said she had called the DWP every week to understand what the problem was, but was never given an explanation. The pensioner was asked to give the same long set of details each time, she said: “I’m ashamed to say that today having gone through it all again with no luck both my sister and myself got really upset with frustration and ended up sobbing into the phone.”
Mrs Lockett said on one occasion she was treated as though the DWP suspected she was a fraudster using someone else’s details to illegally access a pension. “I was crying on the phone because I was getting so frustrated but we got no sympathy,” she said.
After Telegraph Money contacted the DWP Mrs Walton was paid within one working day and has since paid out all the arrears. The 66-year-old is entitled to the full new state pension, worth £179.60 a week.
Steven Cameron of Aegon, a pension firm, said: “The state pension is there to provide for a dignified later life and it isn’t appropriate to suggest that someone should rely on food banks while waiting for it, through no fault of their own. You’d hope DWP would treat claimants with respect.”