Thousands of older Britons could be entitled to a sizable sum of money if they are eligible to claim state pension back payments of up to £5,000.
Some 210,000 pensioners, the majority being women in their 60s and 70s, are believed to have had their National Insurance record impacted by missing periods of Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP).
HRP was a Government scheme to protect the state pension entitlement of parents and carers, who are more likely to be out of the workforce for periods of time, and was awarded automatically between April 6, 1978 and April 5, 2020.
This initiative was replaced by National Insurance with people in work needing 35 years of National Insurance contributions under their belt to claim the full amount of the basic and new state pension.
Since last September, the Treasury began issuing letters to those affected and is working with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to address any errors as soon as possible.
State pension underpayments are estimated to total £1.5billion which would come to around £5,000 each for all of the 210,000 older Britons stung by the pension issue.
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Many older women have been impacted by historic errors to National Insurance
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Pensioners will be able to put forward a claim for any money they believe is owed while some should be awarded back payments automatically.
Here is a full list of the groups who need to make a state pension back payment claim:
- Anyone who took time off work between 1978 and 2010, and was in receipt of Child Benefit or Income Support while looking after an ill or disabled individual
- Any women whose husbands turned 65 before March 17, 2018 and are paid less than 60 per cent of his basic state pension amount
- Women who got divorced after hitting the state pension age but have not had their pension reassessed by the DWP
- Married women who have no basic state pension but may be in claiming SERPs (State Earnings Related Pension Scheme).
The Government has bene in the process of reviewing pension records to see who is entitled to be awarded a back payment automatically but missed out.
Here is a full list of the groups who should receive a state pension back payment claim automatically:
- Any women whose husband turned 65 after March 17, 2008 and are paid less than 60 per cent of his basic state pension amount.
- Widows whose husbands died after March 17, 2008
- Britons aged 80 or over who are not paid at least £85 a week in the state pension.
Nigel Huddleston MP, the former Financial Secretary to the Treasury previously told MPs that HMRC was working with the DWP to find out who has been impacted by this National Insurance error
He explained: “HMRC started contacting potentially impacted customers from September 2023, prioritising those above the state pension age.
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“They aim to identify and contact the majority of individuals who may have been affected over the next 18 months so that those eligible receive any arrears payments as quickly as possible.”
“To correct this issue, potentially impacted customers will be invited to check their eligibility and make an application to HMRC for Home Responsibilities Protection.
“To help individuals determine their eligibility, a self-identification tool is available on the GOV.UK website.
“Where an application is successful, those with a state pension impact will have their award corrected and any arrears paid.”