A supporter of financial expert Martin Lewis shared her success story of reclaiming over £31,000 from HMRC after acting on his guidance.
The individual, identified as Cilla, discovered she had been underpaid her state pension for 15 years due to an oversight related to Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP), an older form of National Insurance credits. HRP was intended to lessen the required qualifying years for claiming the state pension, but an inquiry uncovered that many individuals, predominantly women who had taken time off work for caregiving duties, had inaccuracies in their HRP application on their National Insurance records.
The issue stemmed from Child Benefit claim forms before 2000 lacking National Insurance numbers, resulting in incorrect HRP allocations on National Insurance records.
If you applied for Child Benefit between 1978 and 2000, you might be affected by this miscalculation. Your National Insurance history determines your eligibility for the full state pension in the future.
Missing out on HRP could lead to gaps in your National Insurance record, potentially reducing your entitled state pension amount. HRP was replaced by National Insurance credits from 2010 onwards. Cilla, a reader of MoneySavingExpert.com, shared her reimbursement success story in the website’s newsletter.
Recent reports from HMRC indicate that 370,000 women have been contacted regarding potential underpayments, with an average repayment of £7,859 per person by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to date.
HMRC has identified 5,344 cases of underpayments totaling around £42 million between January 8 and September 30, 2024. Although an estimated 43,000 affected individuals have passed away, their families can seek redress on their behalf. HMRC is prioritizing contacting individuals of pension age first.
If you suspect you may have missed out on HRP benefits, it is advisable to review your state pension and National Insurance records. If discrepancies exist in your National Insurance record between 1978 and 2010 due to caregiving responsibilities, you might be missing HRP entitlements.
To claim missing HRP, you can utilize the online service on GOV.UK or complete a form available on the same platform and submit it to HMRC.