The DWP is set to issue an average of £5,000 in back payments to thousands who may have missed out due to an oversight. An error led to a significant number of individuals not receiving their rightful cash, sparking the Department for Work and Pensions to take action.
Those affected are primarily individuals who were underpaid their state pension because of National Insurance (NI) complications and missing home responsibilities protection (HRP) credits.
The HRP scheme, which was superseded by NI contributions in 2010, was designed to safeguard the state pension rights of parents and caregivers.
The tax authority, HMRC, is currently trying to identify individuals eligible for HRP from 1978 to 2010 but whose records are lacking this crucial detail. This oversight could mean they’ve been underpaid their state pension, reports Birmingham Live.
DWP Pensions Minister Paul Maynard MP recently shared an update on the situation, revealing that around 187,000 cases might involve state pension underpayments, with an estimated total shortfall of £1,043million.
This followed a query by Labour MP Dame Angela Eagle about the average amount owed in state pension underpayments.
In his written reply, the Pensions Minister confirmed: “The exercise to correct National Insurance records for those individuals impacted by errors in their HRP record is underway.”
“The HRP corrections exercise started with HMRC dispatching letters in late 2023. Cases subsequently notified from HMRC started being processed in DWP in early 2024.”
“In the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2022-2023, the central estimate value of an underpayment was £5,000 for alive cases above state pension age and £3,000 for deceased cases. We intend to publish an update on the exercise in this year’s annual report and accounts.”
Mr Maynard also said the DWP has corrected the Universal Credit data issue for cases impacted for the tax years up to and including 2022/2023. He said: “This data has been shared with HMRC.”
“As HMRC updates NI records, these updates are sent to DWP. Any State Pension entitlement will be reassessed, and any underpayment addressed accordingly.”
How do I check if I am owed money?
It is estimated the average payment due to people is about £5,000. The DWP previously said it hopes to complete back payments before the end of 2025 and has started rolling them out.
Call the pension service on 0800 731 0469 to find out if you are affected. You can find out more on the GOV.uk website here.
