The DWP has urged state pensioners to check if they are owed thousands of pounds in back payments, as it warned “very few people” have come forward to claim the money
The DWP is urging state pensioners to verify whether they’re entitled to thousands of pounds in backdated payments. Despite a push with HMRC to alert affected individuals, the department has warned that “very few people” have come forward to make a claim.
The matter emerged after officials identified a historical administrative error indicating that significant numbers of claimants may have been underpaid. DWP permanent secretary Peter Schofield told MPs he remains concerned that many state pensioners continue to miss out on “the money that they are entitled to”.
The outstanding payments remain unclaimed even though HMRC has dispatched letters to roughly 370,000 claimants who could be owed money.
The situation stems from a longstanding issue where Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) was absent from people’s National Insurance (NI) records. HRP was designed to be added to a person’s NI record to maintain their NI contributions whilst away from work for caring responsibilities, including looking after children or caring for someone who was sick or disabled.
Officials uncovered that numerous people were missing HRP from their record, causing their state pension entitlement to fall short of what it should be. The issue is thought to primarily impact women but may also affect other carers, reports the Mirror.
After uncovering the blunder, the DWP and HMRC joined forces to scrutinise records and identify those potentially impacted. HMRC dispatched letters to 370,018 individuals urging them to claim Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) and update their National Insurance records.
This could lead to backdated payments from the DWP alongside an increase in weekly state pension entitlements. Yet Mr Schofield recently told the Work and Pensions Committee that few people have come forward to claim what they’re owed.
Latest DWP statistics from March 2025 reveal that merely 67,000-plus applications reached HMRC, with only 21,878 cases forwarded to the DWP for assessment. In the end, a mere 12,379 cases resulted in arrears payments, totalling £104million in compensation. The typical arrears settlement stood at £8,377.
While this particular outreach campaign has now wrapped up, Mr Schofield assured committee members that they remain committed to settling outstanding debts.
He emphasised to MPs: “I want to reassure you we have not given up on the efforts. It is just that the number of people coming through was much lower than we had anticipated it being, and therefore holding those staff ready, waiting for cases that did not come in, given the other pressures that we have under way, did not make operational sense. However, the door is still open.”
He said that the department had investigated why people weren’t putting in claims. He said: “That suggested that unfortunately some people did not believe the letter, so HMRC did a load of work to reassure people about the letter. It put things on its website to say, ‘If you get a letter like this, this is not a scam’, but people did not necessarily believe it.”
He also highlighted that some individuals who learnt about the shortfalls decided against making a claim. Mr Schofield explained: “Some people said, ‘Well, look, I am perfectly happy with the income I have’. Maybe some people were worried that if they got more state pension it would affect their Pension Credit entitlement and, therefore, their access to other benefits as a result.
“Other people just said, ‘This is such a long time ago. I do not really want to come forward to claim the money that I am entitled to’.”
The issue affects those who may have qualified for HRP between 1978 and 2010. You ought to have received HRP automatically if, between April 6, 1978, and April 5, 2010, you were getting either Child Benefit for a youngster under 16 or Income Support due to caring for someone who was ill or disabled and couldn’t work.
This wasn’t recorded on some people’s NI accounts as it should have been. If your HRP claim went in after 2000, you’re in the clear – National Insurance numbers became mandatory on forms from then onwards.
Mr Schofield explained: “We continue to work on this. The system is ready to go. When people do claim, if people come forward, people are there to deal with the claim.”
He added: “We are doing everything we can, and I want to reassure the committee that the LEAP [Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practice] exercise, in terms of standing a large number of people ready to go, has ended but the access to this system is there and will continue to be so.”
Applications for HRP can be made via the Government website.
