HMRC warns people could lose state pension and has 'already written to you'

Older people are being urged to check their State Pension for possible errors - and backdated payments. HMRC has already written to 257,000 people over State Pension age who may have been underpaid due to Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP).

This issue mainly affects women in their 60s and 70s who made a claim for Child Benefit between 1978 and 2000, after their National Insurance credits - which help build up your state pension entitlement if you're out of work - were not transferred across properly. National Insurance credits were previously known as Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) up until 2010.

HRP reduced the number of qualifying years you need to claim the state pension for parents and carers, and was largely claimed by stay-at-home mums, or anyone who took time away from paid work to look after a child or a person with a long term disability or illness.

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But if someone claimed Child Benefit and didn't put their National Insurance number on the form, their HRP credits may not have been transferred across to their National Insurance record. As a result, this could have impacted how much state pension they're receiving.

HMRC has already written to 257,000 pensioners who could have HRP missing from their NI record and is now contacting those under State Pension age to encourage them to use the eligibility checker on GOV.UK. If people are missing HRP from their NI record, it doesn’t automatically mean their State Pension calculation is incorrect, but it does increase the possibility, particularly if they spent a number of years away from work to raise a family.

If someone makes a successful claim, HMRC will update their NI record and DWP will recalculate their State Pension entitlement. The quickest way to claim missing Home Responsibilities Protection is online at GOV.UK. However, you can also call the National Insurance Helpline on 0300 200 3500 for support.