The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has effectively completed its long-running State Pension underpayment correction exercise, known as the Legal Entitlement and Administrative Practice (LEAP) review, which was launched in January 2021. The DWP's Annual Report and Accounts for 2025-26 reveals that the department no longer holds any financial provision for the original exercise after paying out the remaining arrears owed to affected pensioners.
LEAP Exercise Concludes
The LEAP exercise was initiated after the DWP discovered that some pensioners had been receiving less State Pension than they were entitled to due to official errors. The review focused on several groups, including married women and people in civil partnerships, widows and widowers, and some individuals aged over 80 whose pensions should have been automatically increased.
The latest accounts show that the remaining £92.4 million provision recorded at the end of the previous financial year has been fully utilised, with the balance falling to zero by March 31, 2026. The report states that as the LEAP exercise has now closed and identified cases have been cleared, the final value of arrears paid has been confirmed, and no remaining provision is required. Any future cases identified through normal business are expected to be immaterial.
Ongoing Underpayment Risks
However, the DWP emphasised that this does not mean State Pension underpayments have disappeared altogether. The department stated that where underpayments are identified due to official error, it will continue to pay arrears in full at the earliest opportunity, subject to any legal considerations.
Home Responsibilities Protection Issues
The accounts also confirm that work is continuing on a separate issue involving missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) credits. Historic gaps in National Insurance records meant some people received less State Pension than they should have. The DWP and HM Revenue and Customs carried out a dedicated correction exercise between January 2024 and March 2025, with further processing continuing during 2025-26.
Between April 2025 and March 2026, just over 800 pensioners received an HRP correction worth a total of £7 million in arrears. The DWP still holds a £22 million provision for future HRP-related payments and said it continues to identify new cases through fraud and error sampling while working with HMRC to help people apply for missing HRP periods and have their State Pension revised where appropriate.
