During his Martin Lewis Money Show Live, Mr Lewis said hundreds of thousands of people - mostly women - could be owed at least £6,000 each.

His co-host Angelica Bell displayed an email from a viewer who wrote in which said: “After watching your show on married women’s state pension, I contacted the tax department and, although it did take about 7 months, I received a cheque for £18,000. I was amazed as I never expected this amount!”

Mr Lewis then explained the circumstances of this payment. He said that there are hundreds of thousands of, generally women, who are due at least £6,000 in pension contributions back, The Examiner Live reports.

He said: “Married women and widows may have been underpaid, specifically women who hit state pension age before April 6, 2016. So that’s people aged approximately 70 or older. And your basic state pension needed to be 60% of your husband’s basic state pension and this is only for married couples.”

He added: “Now, you will get an automatic top up and it should be backdated. If your husband was 65 on or after March 17 2008, or you’re a widow whose husband died after April 2008 and you’re getting less than 60% of his pension.”