Why haven't my state pension payments started? Stranded 66-year-old condemns DWP
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Dennis Haslam: 'If this was a private company I would expect some form of compensation and an apology'
A stranded 66-year-old slammed the 'Department for Work and No Pension' after he waited three months for his state pension to start and his pleas for help were ignored.
Dennis Haslam, pictured right, told us the lack of income was making him and his wife ill with stress as they were forced to 'put life on hold' and run down their savings.
'I am at my wits' end and don't know where else to turn,' he said, after making unsuccessful calls to the DWP and a formal complaint when his pension didn't begin.
'I have phoned on numerous occasions to the point where I am not phoning again. All that happens is I am told it will be marked as urgent or prioritised.
'The only thing I have learned from the DWP is that they both mean the same, that is nothing gets done.'
Last week, we reported that an NHS nurse was forced to put retirement plans on hold and keep taking shifts because the DWP failed to start paying her state pension when she turned 66.
Readers have since sent us more complaints about state pension problems and delays, and our investigation is ongoing - details of how to contact us are below.
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Starting in autumn 2022 and lasting until well into 2023, we reported many cases of hardship because the DWP didn't start paying people on time when they reached state pension age.
Mr Haslam lives in South Yorkshire and worked in hostels helping drug users before his retirement.
His wife is in poor health, and he said the DWP wrongly continued to pay him carer's allowance for five and a half weeks after he reached state pension age.
He contacted a separate DWP department to try to find out how much was owed and repay this money, in addition to chasing his state pension payments, but said he got nowhere on that front either.
'If this was a private company I would expect some form of compensation and an apology. As it is a government department I expect neither,' he told us.
'I also raised a complaint nearly three weeks ago and was told it takes up to 15 days for them to respond. This time has also passed.
'On the last call on 5 June I was promised a phone call, again nothing.
'We are having to live on the limited savings we have and have had to put life on hold, not a good thing at our age.
'Perhaps I am inadvertently dealing with the DWNP. That is the Department for Work and No Pension.'
Former Pensions Minister and This is Money retirement columnist, Steve Webb, said: 'One of the most distressing things about trying to get problems resolved with DWP is the way people are repeatedly promised on the phone that cases will be looked into urgently but nothing seems to happen.
'At best, cases seem to be put at the end of a very long queue but if you are without any income it can feel like life is completely on hold and you just don't know what is happening.'
Webb, who is now a partner at LCP, added: 'Whoever is in charge of the DWP after the next election needs to put improving customer service at the heart of their priorities for the department.'
The DWP was asked for comment on Mr Haslam's delayed state pension, but it could not make a statement due to pre-election rules.
After we flagged his case, he received arrears of around £1,800, which were offset by overpayments made for carer's allowance and pension credit.
The DWP said sorry for the delay, which was due to an administrative error, and stressed that when errors do occur it is committed to fixing them.
Mr Haslam responded: 'Administrative errors cover a multitude of sins. Another way of saying they totally messed it up.'
He has now received the arrears but is still waiting for a breakdown of these and his future state pension payments by letter.
If you qualify for and claim a state pension in time, it should start being paid in arrears four weeks after you reach age 66.
If your payments do not arrive after that the details of how to contact us are in the box above.
