State Pension back payments of up to £7,859 due for women in their 60s and 70s by end of next year

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have confirmed that more than 370,000 letters have been sent to older people - mostly women - urging them to check their State Pension as it may be lower than they are entitled to. New data published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on the progress of rectifying historical State Pension errors, shows that the average arrears payment is worth £7,859.

In 2022, the DWP became aware of a number of State Pensions cases where it appeared that historic periods of Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) were missing, leading to inaccurate State Pension payments. Investigations revealed that this issue applied to the National Insurance records, administered by HMRC of some people both below and above State Pension age.

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DWP and HMRC set up a Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practice (LEAP) corrections exercise to identify and invite potentially affected people to apply, correct their records, and make both arrears and ongoing revised State Pension payments.

The new data shows 493,813 people have used the online tool at GOV.UK to check if they are missing HRP from their State Pension.

Anyone impacted by the error is due to receive any back payments by the end of next year. DWP has also previously said that those closest to the State Pension age in their 60’s and 70s are being issued letters first, however, anyone who thinks they may have been affected can check their eligibility online using the self-identification tool on GOV.UK here.

Up until the end of September this year, the HMRC has processed 37,289 applications from people over State Pension age and 5,428 from those aged below 66. So far, the DWP have paid out £42 million in arrears payments.

Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) underpayments in a nutshell

The DWP estimates it underpaid between £300m and £1.5 billion of State Pension because of errors with the recording of HRP.

HRP was a scheme designed to help protect parents’ and carers’ entitlement to the State Pension and was replaced by NI credits from April 6, 2010. HMRC is using NI records to identify as many people as possible who might have been entitled to HRP between 1978 and 2010 and have no HRP on their NI record.

After May 2000, it became mandatory to include a NI number on claims so people claiming after this point will not have been affected. It is estimated tens of thousands of people are due an average of £5,000 in back payments.

HMRC and DWP are also conducting a wider campaign to ensure that everyone who may be eligible is aware of the corrections exercise.

Before you start the online HRP check

You will be asked if you have gaps in your National Insurance record. If you cannot find your National Insurance record online or do not know the answers to any of the questions, you can choose ‘Do not know’ and you’ll be told how to get this information.

How to use the online HRP tool

You may still be able to apply for HRP, for full tax years (6 April to 5 April) between 1978 and 2010, if any of the following were true:

• you were claiming Child Benefit for a child under 16

• you were caring for a child with your partner who claimed Child Benefit instead of you

• you were getting Income Support because you were caring for someone who was sick or disabled

• you were caring for a sick or disabled person who was claiming certain benefits

You can also apply if, for a full tax year between 2003 and 2010, you were either:

• a foster carer

• caring for a friend or family member’s child (‘kinship carer’) in Scotland

Who qualified automatically for HRP

The guidance on GOV.UK explains that most people got HRP automatically if they were:

• getting Child Benefit in their name for a child under the age of 16 and they had given the Child Benefit Office their National Insurance number

• getting Income Support and they did not need to register for work because they were caring for someone who was sick or disabled

If your partner claimed Child Benefit instead of you

If you reached State Pension age before April 6, 2008, you cannot transfer HRP.

However, you may be able to transfer HRP from a partner you lived with if they claimed Child Benefit while you both cared for a child under 16 and they do not need the HRP.

They can transfer the HRP to you for any ‘qualifying years’ they have on their National Insurance record between April 1978 and April 2010. This will be converted into National Insurance credits.

Married women or widows

You cannot get HRP for any complete tax year if you were a married woman or a widow and:

• you had chosen to pay reduced rate Class 1 National Insurance contributions as an employee (commonly known as the small stamp)

• you had chosen not to pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions when self-employed

If you were caring for a sick or disabled person

You can only claim HRP for the years you spent caring for someone with a long-term illness or disability between April 6, 1978 and April 5, 2002.

You must have spent at least 35 hours a week caring for them and they must have been getting one of the following benefits:

• Attendance Allowance

• Disability Living Allowance at the middle or highest rate for personal care

• Constant Attendance Allowance

The benefit must have been paid for 48 weeks of each tax year on or after April 6, 1988 or every week of each tax year before April 6, 1988.

You can still apply if you are over State Pension age. You will not usually be paid any increase in State Pension that may have been due for previous years.

If you were getting Carer’s Allowance

You do not need to apply for HRP if you were getting Carer’s Allowance. You’ll automatically get National Insurance credits and would not usually have needed HRP.

If you were a foster carer or caring for a friend or family member’s child

You have to apply for HRP if, for a full tax year between 2003 and 2010, you were either:

• a foster carer

• caring for a friend or family member’s child (‘kinship carer’) in Scotland

All of the following must also be true:

• you were not getting Child Benefit

• you were not in paid work

• you did not earn enough in a tax year for it to count towards the State Pension

If you reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010

Any HRP you had for full tax years before April 6, 2010 was automatically converted into National Insurance credits, if you needed them, up to a maximum of 22 qualifying years.

A full overview of HRP can be found on GOV.UK here.