- The government has admitted people entitled to child benefit before May 2000 may have been underpaid their state pension in the latest potential scandal to rock DWP (Home Responsibilities Protection: correction of National Insurance records and State Pension entitlement - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk))
- Those who claimed child benefit and didn’t provide their National Insurance number on the claim most likely to be affected
- HMRC is using National Insurance records to identify as many people as possible who:
- might have been entitled to ‘Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP), a scheme designed to protect parents’ and carers’ state pension entitlements, between 1978 and 2010;
- have no HRP on their National Insurance record
- HMRC will write to people who meet these criteria from Autumn 2023, to find out if they are eligible to claim
Tom Selby, head of retirement policy at AJ Bell, comments:
“In the wake of a scandal which has so far seen over £300 million* repaid to women who had been underpaid their state pension, sometimes by thousands of pounds, the DWP is once again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
“This time it is parents who were entitled to child benefit over two decades ago who have been identified as missing out on their valuable state pension entitlement.
“Given many people rely solely on their state pension to make ends meet in retirement, the fact even more have been identified as receiving too little – particularly during a cost-of-living crisis – as a result of administrative failures is unforgiveable.
“The most important thing now is that those who have been underpaid are identified as quickly as possible and put back in the position they should have been. Tragically, it is inevitable some will have died before they can receive the compensation they are owed.
“For those who are still alive, it is crucial if you receive post from DWP that you open it and act upon it. You can make your claim online – but if you do nothing, you will get nothing from the government.”
* State Pension underpayments: progress on cases reviewed to 28 February 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
