Adult children could play a part in helping an estimated 370,000 people, mostly women, get state pension backpayments worth up to £8,000, experts have claimed. The HMRC has been sending out letters alerting people of state pension age they have been underpaid, however many of those entitled to the cash have not responded, meaning they cannot be paid.
The DWP said the reason why many women ignored the letters is likely due to them thinking it was a scam. In a report examining why people had not responded to the HMRC letter,the DWP said: “These included concerns about scams, not wanting to engage with government, being worried about losing money, and being anxious about the application itself.” The government department also noted that many of the age group turned to younger family members when looking for advice or support. Riz Malik, director at R3 Wealth, said this meant adult children could be useful to their older relatives by helping them read and reply to the letter. Adult children are also more tech savvy than their parents, as noted by the HMRC and the DWP, which means they could also help their relatives go online and claim the money.
Mr Malik urged children to speak to their parents. “It’s easy to dismiss an unexpected letter as a scam, especially for those who rarely receive mail from HMRC. A quick check from family could make all the difference. It might just uncover a backdated pension payment worth thousands. Helping mum claim her state pension entitlement could be the best thing they ever did.”
The letters have been sent out following a review between January 2024 and September 2024, which found underpayments relating to errors in National Insurance ‘top ups’ calculated using Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP).
A total of 370,018 letters have been sent out and Brits are being urged to watch out for them.
Rob Mansfield, independent financial Advisor at Rootes Wealth Management, said: “One of the first things I do with new clients is ask them to get a State Pension forecast and a National Insurance history and then work through them to check that they’re accurate. Mistakes happen all the time through incorrect tax codes, credits not being properly applied to state pension.
“Women tend to have more complicated scenarios than men through historical reliance on a husband’s contributions to taking time off work to raise children and so the risk of an error is so much greater. It is always worth double checking your record and querying things that don’t look right. If HMRC or the DWP have written to you or your mum, don’t ignore it. With the cost of living increasing, it might make life that little bit easier.”
The letters being sent out are related to Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) which was introduced in April 1978; parents who did not work got this protection until their child was 16.
HRP meant parents who did not work still got entitlement to the state pension. In April 2010, HRP was replaced by National Insurance (NI) Credits for parents and carers, and these credits are given until a child is 12.
The DWP issued a statement in July 2023 that a lot of women who had children between 1978 and 2010 may not have had HRP added to their NI accounts, so consequently may have been underpaid their state pension.
HMRC is currently going through backdated records, but it may be worth looking at an NI record to see if there are any non-qualifying years from 1978 when you may have had a child/children under the age of 16.
If you have missing years, then you should put in a claim for HRP. If you do not have access to a computer, the telephone number for the NI helpline is 0300 200 3500.
Not all cases processed by DWP resulted in an underpayment. Some cases may already meet the qualifying years for a full state pension, may already be receiving a higher state pension inherited from their spouse, or may still not be entitled to state pension as all conditions have not been met.
