Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to compensate people who were eligible to claim State Pension under the basic State Pension system, but did not make a claim as they unaware of their eligibility.

The provisions of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987 (Schedule 4, para 13), as amended in 2008, set out the rules in relation to this matter. Where an individual is required to make a claim to be entitled to State Pension the law allows for such claims to be backdated for a maximum period of up to 12 months.