When Kay Rumble received her pension forecast from the Government, she knew that something was wrong.

The 64-year-old from Berkshire had taken time out of her working life to bring up three children, but the Pension Service had failed to account for this in its calculations.

“I argued about this,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many times I called them. Eventually they said that they had changed computers and one said that I was entitled to a bigger state pension and one said that I wasn’t.”

In 1999 Mrs Rumble, an office manager, was told that she was likely to qualify for a basic pension of £25.23 when she turned 60 in 2003. This was based on the expectation that she would, by 2003, have 15 years of national insurance contributions out of a possible 39. The forecast underestimated her pension by nearly half.

After she pointed out the discrepancy, the Pension Service revised its figures. Once Mrs Rumble’s Home Responsibilities Protection entitlement was included, her weekly pension increased to £45.12.

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