The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HMRC have identified five groups of state pensioners who may be owed backpayments due to a historic mistake involving National Insurance records. Thousands of individuals could still be entitled to these payments as the DWP works to rectify longstanding errors related to the Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) scheme.
According to the DWP's most recent Fraud and Error in the Benefit System report, HRP-related errors account for roughly £6 in every £10 underpaid as a result of National Insurance contribution mistakes. HRP was a scheme operating between 1978 and 2010, designed to safeguard the State Pension entitlement of parents and carers who took time away from employment to look after children or disabled family members.
Five Key Groups Affected
Based on DWP guidance and the groups most frequently impacted by HRP errors, the five categories of people who may be owed State Pension back payments are:
- Women who claimed Child Benefit before May 2000 and whose National Insurance number was not correctly linked to their claim.
- Parents whose partner claimed Child Benefit instead of them, meaning HRP may not have been credited to the correct person's National Insurance record.
- People receiving Income Support while caring for someone who was sick or disabled.
- Unpaid carers who looked after a disabled or seriously ill person and met the HRP criteria.
- Foster carers and eligible kinship carers (particularly between 2003 and 2010) who may have qualified for HRP but never received it.
The DWP stated: "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."
Current Underpayment Figures
The most recent figures reveal that State Pension underpayments remained at approximately £390 million in the year to April 2026, with National Insurance contribution errors continuing to account for a considerable proportion of cases. Those who believe they may have missing HRP years can review their National Insurance record and State Pension forecast online via GOV.UK.
Individuals can still apply to have missing HRP added to their record even after reaching State Pension age. The DWP and HMRC have confirmed they will press ahead with reviewing cases, correcting records, and issuing back payments to those found to have received less State Pension than they were rightfully owed.
