'You could be owed money': DWP identifies five groups most likely to qualify for State Pension back payments

Thousands of pensioners across Britain could be entitled to State Pension back payments after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) confirmed that historic errors have left some retirees receiving less than they should have.

The mistakes are linked to Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP), a scheme designed to protect the State Pension entitlements of parents and carers who spent time out of work.

New figures from the DWP show that HRP-related errors remain the largest single cause of State Pension underpayments.

The DWP said: "Some people have not had all eligible years of HRP recorded on their National Insurance records and so have an incomplete record affecting their State Pension entitlement."

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HRP operated between 1978 and 2010 and was intended to safeguard pension rights for people who reduced or gave up work to care for children or vulnerable adults.

However, errors in recording HRP credits have left some people with incomplete National Insurance records, resulting in lower State Pension payments.

Groups most likely to be affected

The DWP has identified five groups at higher risk of missing HRP credits:

• Women who claimed Child Benefit before May 2000 whose National Insurance number was not correctly linked.
• Parents whose partner claimed Child Benefit, meaning credits may have been assigned to the wrong record.
• People who received Income Support while caring for someone ill or disabled.
• Unpaid carers who met HRP criteria but never received credits.
• Foster and kinship carers, particularly between 2003 and 2010.

The issue is being addressed through the Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practice (LEAP) exercise, a large-scale correction programme involving both HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the DWP.

As part of the review, HMRC has already sent more than 370,000 letters to people who may have been affected.

Officials have been examining National Insurance records to identify individuals who should have received HRP credits between 1978 and 2010 but have no record of them being applied.

The most recent figures show that State Pension underpayments totalled approximately £390million in the year to April 2026. According to the DWP, HRP errors account for around £6 in every £10 underpaid because of National Insurance contribution record mistakes.

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People who believe they may have missing HRP years can check their National Insurance record and State Pension forecast through GOV.UK.

The correction programme applies to people who have already reached State Pension age as well as those approaching retirement.

Individuals can still apply to have missing HRP years added to their National Insurance record if they believe they qualify.

The DWP and HMRC said work will continue to identify affected pensioners, correct records and issue any payments owed as a result of the historic errors.

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