HMRC and DWP to issue £5,000 State Pension back payments for women - Check your eligibility now

This year, hundreds of thousands of older women could be in for a surprise as they may receive a letter from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) informing them that their National Insurance (NI) record may contain missing periods of Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP). This could have affected the level of Basic or New State Pension they are entitled to.

The Treasury started issuing these letters nearly a year ago and is working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to correct any administrative errors as quickly as possible.

Around 210,000 older individuals - mainly women - are due a share of underpayments totalling £1.5billion, which works out at about £5,000 each.

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Those affected by this error can expect to receive any back payments by the end of next year. The DWP has previously stated that those closest to the State Pension age in their 60s and 70s are being issued letters first.

However, anyone who thinks they may have been impacted can check their eligibility online using the self-identification tool on GOV. UK, reports the Express.

The DWP estimates it underpaid between £300 million and £1.5 billion of State Pension due to errors with the recording of HRP. HRP was a scheme designed to protect parents' and carers' entitlement to the State Pension and was replaced by NI credits from April 6, 2010, according to the Daily Record.

HMRC is using NI records to identify as many people as possible who might have been entitled to HRP between 1978 and 2010 and have no HRP on their NI record.

After May 2000, it became mandatory to include a National Insurance (NI) number on claims, meaning those who claimed after this point will not have been affected. It is estimated that tens of thousands of individuals are due an average of £5,000 in back payments.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has said that personal representatives can claim on behalf of deceased customers. For more information on eligibility and how to claim, visit the dedicated Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) page on GOV.UK.

HMRC and DWP are also running a wider campaign to ensure everyone potentially eligible is aware of the corrections exercise.

How to use the online HRP tool.

Before starting the HRP check, you will be asked if there are gaps in your National Insurance record. If you cannot locate your National Insurance record online or do not know the answers to any of the questions, you can select 'Do not know', and guidance on obtaining this information will be provided.

To use the online HRP tool, you may still be able to apply for HRP for full tax years (6 April to 5 April) between 1978 and 2010, if certain conditions were met:.

You can also apply if, for a full tax year between 2003 and 2010, you met certain criteria:

The GOV.UK guidance explains that most people automatically received HRP if they met certain conditions:.

If you reached State Pension age before April 6, 2008, you cannot transfer HRP.

However, it might be feasible to transfer HRP from a partner you lived with if they claimed Child Benefit while both of you cared for a child under 16 and they do not need the HRP.

They can assign the HRP to you for any 'qualifying years' they have on their National Insurance record between April 1978 and April 2010. This will be converted into National Insurance credits.

You are ineligible for HRP for any complete tax year if you were a married woman or a widow and:

You can only claim HRP for the years you spent caring for someone with a long-term illness or disability between April 6, 1978 and April 5, 2002.

You must have dedicated at least 35 hours a week to their care and they must have been receiving one of the following benefits:

The benefit must have been paid for 48 weeks of each tax year on or after April 6, 1988 or every week of each tax year before April 6, 1988.

You can still apply if you are over State Pension age. You will not usually be paid any increase in State Pension that may have been due for previous years.

There is no need to apply for HRP if you were receiving Carer's Allowance. You'll automatically get National Insurance credits and would not usually have needed HRP.

You must apply for HRP if, for a full tax year between 2003 and 2010, you were either:.

The following conditions must also be met:.

If you reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010.

Any Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) you had for full tax years prior to April 6, 2010 was automatically converted into National Insurance credits, if required, up to a maximum of 22 qualifying years.

A detailed guide to HRP is available on the GOV. UK website.

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