HMRC says some people have failed to claim the cash because they ‘didn’t believe it was genuine’
The DWP has called on state pensioners to check whether they are owed thousands of pounds in back payments. The department cautioned that “very few people” have stepped forward to lodge a claim despite a joint effort with HMRC to tell people.
The issue first came to light after officials noted a historical error suggesting huge numbers of claimants may have been short-changed. DWP permanent secretary Peter Schofield informed MPs that he worries many state pensioners are still losing out on “the money that they are entitled to”. The missing payments are yet to be collected despite HMRC sending letters to approximately 370,000 claimants who may owed some cash.
The issue concerns a historical problem where Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) was missing from people’s National Insurance (NI) records. HRP was added to a person’s NI record to ensure they continued receiving NI contributions while out of employment due to caring duties, such as raising children or supporting a sick or disabled person.
Officials discovered that many people were lacking HRP on their record, resulting in their state pension entitlement being lower than it ought to be. The problem is believed to predominantly affect women but may also include other caregivers.
Following the discovery of the significant mistake, the DWP and HMRC worked together to look over people’s records to determine who may be affected. HMRC sent letters to 370,018 people encouraging them to apply for HRP and have it added to their NI record.
This could potentially result in back payments from the DWP along with a rise in your weekly state pension amount. However, Mr Schofield informed the Work and Pensions Committee recently [January 21] that regrettably relatively few people have stepped forward to claim their owed money.
DWP figures as of March 2025 show that just over 67,000 applications were submitted to HMRC, with only 21,878 cases passed on to the DWP for processing. Ultimately, just 12,379 cases received arrears payments, with £104million distributed. The average arrears payout was £8,377.
While this specific initiative to contact people has concluded, Mr Schofield reassured the committee they remain prepared to pay out what is owed.
‘We have not given up’
He told the MPs: “I want to reassure you we have not given up on the efforts. It is just that the number of people coming through was much lower than we had anticipated it being, and therefore holding those staff ready, waiting for cases that did not come in, given the other pressures that we have under way, did not make operational sense. However, the door is still open.”
The senior official revealed the department had done some research into why people were not submitting claims. He explained: “That suggested that unfortunately some people did not believe the letter, so HMRC did a load of work to reassure people about the letter. It put things on its website to say, ‘If you get a letter like this, this is not a scam’, but people did not necessarily believe it.”
He also noted some people who did learn about the underpayments issue chose not to claim. Mr Schofield said: “Some people said, ‘Well, look, I am perfectly happy with the income I have’. Maybe some people were worried that if they got more state pension it would affect their Pension Credit entitlement and, therefore, their access to other benefits as a result.”
“Other people just said, ‘This is such a long time ago. I do not really want to come forward to claim the money that I am entitled to’.”
Who could be affected by the state pension missing HRP issue?
The matter concerns people who may have been eligible for HRP between 1978 and 2010. You should have been awarded HRP automatically if between April 6, 1978 and April 5, 2010, you received either Child Benefit for a child under 16 or Income Support because you were caring for a sick or disabled person and were unavailable for work. Unfortunately, this was not added to some people’s NI records as it should have been.
However, if you submitted your HRP claim after 2000, you won’t be impacted, as National Insurance numbers were required on forms from that point onwards. Mr Schofield stressed they still want people to claim what they are entitled to.
He said: “We continue to work on this. The system is ready to go. When people do claim, if people come forward, people are there to deal with the claim.
“We are doing everything we can, and I want to reassure the committee that the LEAP [Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practice] exercise, in terms of standing a large number of people ready to go, has ended but the access to this system is there and will continue to be so.” You can apply for HRP through the Government website.
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