Some pensioner expats may be owed compensation from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) due to a newly identified communication issue. Adrian Furnival, 82, who immigrated to Brittany in 1994, was found to be owed £675 from the benefits office after having his Adult Dependency Increase (ADI) payments stopped without sufficient warning.

An investigation found that the DWP took eight years to inform the British expat about the changes, which would leave him £3,000 a year worse off. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has urged other older expats who may be affected to come forward. Rebecca Hilsenrath from the PHSO said: “Poor communication from Government departments damages trust in public services. DWP has a history of failing to communicate pension policy changes clearly and failing to learn from its mistakes.”

She added: “In Adrian’s case, this meant that, without the right information, he lost the opportunity to prepare for his retirement. It also caused him unnecessary financial worry.”

ADI, worth up to £70 a week, was a supplement given to households when the main earner reached state pension age but their partner had not. The payments closed to new applicants in 2010 and stopped completely in 2020.

People who lived in the UK were informed about the changes to ADI payments in 2010. Mr Funival, who lives with his wife Sheila, 67, were only informed in 2018.

Mr Furnival, who was born in Bedford and served in the Army, said: “It came as a shock to me. They sent the leaflet to us every year, so they could have told us at any point from 2010 onwards.

“We only have our pensions as income, so we were worried about what we were going to do to make ends meet.”

He added: “If they had told us at the same time as everyone else, we could have had eight more years to plan for the shortfall. That would have given us enough time to do something, my wife or I could have tried to get a job. By 2018, we had no way of replacing that income.”

The number of those living abroad and entitled to ADI is unknown, but in May 2019, a year before ADI ended, DWP told Parliament that 10,817 people were still receiving the benefit.

This means thousands of people could have shared the same experience as Mr Furnival, which could lead to a payout.

The Ombudsman has recommended that DWP should provide a “comparable remedy” to anyone who approaches the Department in a similar situation.

Ms Hilsenrath said: “Anyone who believes they have had a similar experience to Adrian should contact DWP.”