Just 13 people have so far received money from the Government's pensions lifeboat out of thousands who were supposed to get compensation.
The Government set up the £400 million Financial Assistance Scheme in September last year to help people who had lost their occupational pension because their company had been made bankrupt.
The scheme was designed to help the thousands of workers whose companies had gone under before the Pension Protection Fund, which acts as a safety net to workers who lose their retirement savings in these circumstances, was set up.
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Thousands of people in the West Midlands who lost their jobs and pensions through the collapse of companies like United Engineering Forgings of Bromsgrove and Kalamazoo Computer Group in Birmingham, are having to rely on the FAS for aid.
But the Department for Work and Pensions admitted that out of the 15,000 people who were in line to receive compensation just 13 had actually been given any money, and they only received it in December.
The 13 are all former work-ers from the Cardiff-based steel company Allied Steel & Wire, which went into receivership in 2002. The DWP said the reason for the delay was that it needed to get information from pension scheme trustees and process it before it could make payments.
A DWP spokeswoman said: "The FAS began making payments in December and we have been able to provide invaluable help to the first of those eligible for assistance.
"However, this is just the start and there remains a considerable amount to be done to ensure that all those eligible for help start getting it.
"In order for us to establish who is eligible and what level of help they might get, we need scheme trustees and administrators to provide us with the relevant information before February 28."
The scheme was first announced nearly two years ago in May 2004, but so far only people with terminal illnesses, or those who are over the age of 65 have received any money.
FAS initially pays out 60 per cent of the core benefits people would have received if their scheme is still being wound up, rising to 80 per cent once this process has finished, up to a limit of £12,000 a year.
It is estimated that around 80,000 people lost pensions as a result of their company going under, but the Government is initially targeting help to the 15,000 people who are either over 65 or within three years of retirement.
