DWP urges 370,000 people to check State Pension as they may be owed thousands

Hundreds of thousands of older women could be due an income boost from State Pension.

Data from the Department for Work and () on the progress of correcting historical State Pension errors shows that the average arrears payment is around £7,859. In 2022, the DWP identified several State Pension cases where it appeared that historic periods of Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) were missing, leading to incorrect State Pension payments.

Investigations revealed that this issue was related to the National Insurance records, managed by HMRC, of some individuals both below and above State Pension age.

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The DWP and HMRC launched a Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practice (LEAP) corrections exercise to identify and invite potentially affected individuals to apply, correct their records, and make both arrears and ongoing revised State Pension payments, according to the Daily Record.

Those affected by the error are expected to receive any back payments by the end of this year. The DWP has previously stated that those closest to the State Pension age in their 60s and 70s are being prioritised with letters, but anyone who believes they may have been impacted can check their eligibility online using the self-identification tool on GOV.UK.

As of September's end last year, HMRC had dealt with 37,289 applications from folks over State Pension age and 5,428 from those under 66. So far, the DWP has coughed up £42 million in back payments.

Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) underpayments

The DWP believes it's underpaid between £300m and £1.5 billion in State Pensions due to blunders with HRP records.

HRP was a scheme designed to protect parents' and carers' rights to the State Pension and was replaced by NI credits from April 6, 2010. HMRC is using NI records to find as many people as possible who might have been entitled to HRP between 1978 and 2010 and don't have any HRP on their NI record.

After May 2000, it became mandatory to include a NI number on claims so anyone claiming after this won't have been affected. It's estimated that tens of thousands of people are owed an average of £5,000 in back payments.

HMRC and DWP are also pushing a wider campaign to make sure everyone who might be eligible knows about the corrections exercise.

Before you begin the online HRP check

You'll be queried about any gaps in your National Insurance record. If you're unable to locate your National Insurance record online or don't know the answers to some questions, you can select 'Do not know' and you'll be guided on how to obtain this information.

How to utilise the online HRP tool

You might still be eligible 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 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 were claiming Child Benefit for a child under 16

Who automatically qualified for HRP

The guidance on GOV.UK indicates that most individuals automatically received HRP 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

A comprehensive guide to HRP can be found on