State pension 'check your record' alert - some on wrong payments 'for years'

State pensioners have been urged to check if they are due "significant" back payments from the DWP . The department is writing to more than 300,000 people who may be impacted, but benefits advocates warn people "could easily miss" these important letters. Owing to a historical error, thousands of people who should have had Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) on their National Insurance (NI) record are missing the entitlement. HRP was a previous scheme to cover time when a person was out of work with caring responsibilities, so their NI contributions were still added to their record, helping build up their state pension.

If you should have had this on your record, your state pension may be lower than it should be and you could be owed back payments. Rebecca Lamb, external relations at financial support group Money Wellness , spoke about who could be affected. She said: "Women who took time out of work to raise their children are among those most likely to be affected, especially if they claimed Child Benefit before May 2000. Ensure our latest DWP headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source.

Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings. "Back then, mothers didn't have to provide their National Insurance number when making a claim, so some HRP wasn't added to their NI record. People who gave up work to care for someone with a long-term illness or disability could also be missing out. "There may also be pensioners who're entitled to HRP but have never checked their NI record, so they don't realise anything is wrong."

She said there is a particular risk that older pensioners with little support to help them with their finances may not realise they are impacted. Ms Lamb said: "Someone who lives alone or struggles with paperwork or using the internet may not realise there's a problem with their record or know what to do about it. Some pensioners could have been receiving less state pension than they're entitled to for years. "Anyone who took time out of work to bring up children or care for someone should check their record rather than assume everything's been worked out correctly."

These are the key facts to note: Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) ran from April 6, 1978 to April 5, 2010. It was replaced by National Insurance credits in April 2010 From May 2000 onwards, you had to include your National Insurance number when claiming the support, so anyone who claimed after then will not be impacted If you had caring responsibilities between April 1978 and May 2000, you may be missing HRP from your NI record, which could mean you are getting a lower state pension payment than you are entitled to, and could be owed back payments.

Previous HMRC figures said the average payout was around £8,300 You can apply for HRP to be added to your NI record on the Government website . After the error was identified, the DWP and HMRC launched a campaign to try to notify people, sending out letters to around 340,000 people in 2023/2024. More than 25,000 people have had HRP added to their NI record since the issue was identified, with over £100million in state pension arrears paid out.

A second letter is now going out to some 311,000 people. All letters will be sent out by the end of March 2027. The letter includes a claim form, so you can fill this in with your details and put it straight back in the post. Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC's chief customer officer, said: "We're hopeful that by including the claim form in the letter, people are more likely to fill it in, send it back and find out quickly and easily whether their entitlement will increase on retirement or, if they've reached state pension age, they're owed a payout."

Despite the mail campaign, Ms Lamb said there is a risk some pensioners won't get the message. She said: "Some people could easily miss them. "Lots of affected people are older pensioners, and not everyone has someone nearby to help them keep on top of their post. Someone living with dementia or other cognitive difficulties might not understand what the letter means. "Others may have moved house and never received it. There's also a chance that people could mistake an unexpected letter from the Government for a scam and throw it away."

She also warned that just because you don't get a letter, this doesn't mean it's not worth checking yourself. The expert said: "It's important not to assume you're in the clear just because you haven't received a letter. "The Government doesn't know exactly how many people are still owed money, so some may not be contacted. Anyone who took time out of work to raise children or care for someone should check their National Insurance record rather than wait for a letter.

An error made years ago could still be affecting how much state pension they're receiving today." There are some key changes to the state pension coming up that are worth knowing about: The state pension age is currently moving up, increasing up in stages from 66 to 67. This process started in April 2026 and will be completed by April 2028. The age you can access your private pensions will move up from 56 to 57 in April 2028 As announced at the Budget, a new Pension Tax Allowance is being brought in from April 2027.

This is an extra tax-free amount on top of the standard personal allowance, to protect those whose only income is the state pension from paying income tax. It will apply to anyone of state pension age and tapers off as your total income moves above the level of the full new state pension, which will be £13,037 from next April The triple lock is being changed - Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced at the Labour Party conference that the triple lock will be adjusted, from April 2030.

The current policy ensures that payments go up each year in line with the highest of 2.5 per cent, the rise in average earnings or inflation. From 2030, the earnings metric is being removed, but Labour has said that the state pension increase will still keep track with the increase in earnings over time Legislation is also in place for the state pension age to increase from 67 to 68 between 2044 and 2046. There has been discussion of bringing forward this timetable.