People have been urged to check for a DWP letter (Image: GETTY)
More than 1,800 people could be "sitting on a pensions goldmine", it has been revealed.
A Freedom of Information request by former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb found that 1,859 people had received letters from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about potential underpayments of state pension to their late parents or spouse as of last month.
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But the sums will remain unclaimed unless the DWP receives a reply to their letters.
Sir Steve, a partner at pensions consultancy LCP, said: “We know that well over 100,000 people were underpaid state pensions and DWP has spent more than three years trying to track them down.
"In thousands of cases, the person who was underpaid is sadly no longer with us, but their heirs should still benefit from any underpayment.
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"Although not all underpayments are large, in some cases people have received ￡100,000 or more, so the recipients of these letters could be sitting on a pensions goldmine.
"If you have received a letter from DWP about a potential underpayment to a loved one, I would urge you to respond as soon as possible."
The majority of the cases - 1,671 - are where the person who died was a widow or widower and the DWP now believes they may have been underpaid state pension.
A further 131 relate to cases where a married woman’s low pension was not automatically increased when her husband retired.
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Some 57 cases relate to underpaid pensions to the over-80s.
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The DWP says it can only work out the amount potentially owed when it receives a reply to the letter.
In the past, underpayments have ranged from a few pounds to over ￡100,000.
If the DWP cannot trace a next of kin then any money owed will be retained by the Government.