When my wife Fran died in June last year I duly advised the pensions people in Newcastle by phone. I was thanked and told that it might incur an enhanced pension for me.
Fast forward to this year and back in March I think it was , I discovered a lump sum of around £1,600 in my UK bank and, after seeing that the reference was my own NI number, assumed it was a lump sum. I tried ringing but got nowhere.
A month later I noticed that my own pension had gone up by around £180 for the month, and then again for each month since.
Funny though that no-one wrote or called to explain, I hope it isn’t a mistake and they’ll hit me with a large recall bill next year. 
Has anybody else experienced this after widowhood?
Just thinking how rich I would be if I normally received the full pension, 40 odd years ago during a time of overseas working and then penury I failed to pay any tax or insurance for sometime. We were both hauled into the DHSS office in Nottingham and it was explained to us that we couldn’t avoid the tax but didn’t need to pay the insurance but it would mean we wouldn’t get a full pension. That suited us, relatively young still and years from retirement we agreed. I know I don’t get the full pension but enough for us, and now this. If I had paid my full whack I would be a millionaire now. 
