Three groups of women are due to be paid thousands of pounds in state pension back payments this year.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently published an update on the progress of the State Pension Underpayments Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practice (LEAP) exercise.

The new figures show between January 11, 2021, and February 29, 2024, the checking process has identified 97,016 underpayments to people over state pension age, owing a total of £571.6million.

The recipients, mostly women, have received back payments averaging between £2,192 and £12,486, depending on their pension category.

According to the DWP, some underpayment cases may involve an overpayment of another benefit, like Pension Credit, resulting in no net underpayment to the individual.

Additionally, some cases involve deceased customers, and the department has so far been unable to identify an estate to pay the arrears.

The three categories listed for payments include:

Married (Cat BL)

This category applies to people who are married or in a civil partnership who reached state pension age before April 6, 2016 and should be entitled to a Category BL uplift based on their partner’s National Insurance contributions.

As of February 2024, the number of cases reviewed in this category was 317,955. Up to 43,367 underpayments were identified with average arrears of £5,713. So far, the total amount repaid amounts to £243.8million.

Widowed (Cat B)

This applies to people who have been widowed and their state pension was not increased to include any amounts they are entitled to inherit from their late husband, wife or civil partner.

298,099 cases had been reviewed for state pensioners in this category by February 2024. Up to 21,175 underpayments had been identified with average arrears of £12,486. So far, the total amount repaid comes in at £262.3million.

Over 80 (Cat D)

This applies to people who reach age 80 and are getting some basic state pension but less than the £85.00 (in 2022/23) and may therefore, subject to satisfying the appropriate residency conditions, be entitled to Cat D state pension of £101.55 a week.

In the over 80 category, 89,634 cases had been reviewed by February 2024. Up to 32,474 underpayments had been identified with average arrears of £2,192. So far, the total amount repaid amounts to £65.5 million.

Commenting on the update, Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Progress is being made to rectify the large-scale issue of state pension underpayments, but it is very slow.”

She noted that, while just over £571million have been returned so far, estimates suggest the scale of underpayments could be around £1.5billion, meaning there’s still “a very long way to go”.

She added: "People have the expectation that the state pension they receive is correct but a series of errors in an already overly complicated system means that for many thousands of people this expectation has been incorrect.

“These people have been let down and need resolution as soon as possible."