The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed that thousands of pensioners across the UK may still be owed State Pension back payments as it continues to correct historic errors linked to National Insurance records. New figures from the DWP reveal that mistakes involving Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) remain the leading cause of State Pension underpayments. The department, alongside HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), is conducting a major exercise to identify affected individuals and issue arrears.
Home Responsibilities Protection Errors
According to the DWP's latest Fraud and Error in the Benefit System report, HRP-related mistakes account for approximately £6 in every £10 underpaid due to National Insurance contribution errors. HRP was a scheme in place between 1978 and 2010 designed to protect the State Pension entitlement of parents and carers who took time out of work to look after children or disabled relatives. However, some eligible years were not properly recorded on National Insurance records, leaving many people with lower State Pension payments than they should have received.
Five Groups Eligible for Back Payments
Based on DWP guidance and the groups most commonly affected by HRP errors, five main categories of people could be owed State Pension back payments:
- 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 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.
Ongoing Correction Programme
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." As part of an ongoing correction programme known as the Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practice (LEAP) exercise, HMRC has already sent more than 370,000 letters encouraging people to check whether they may have been affected. Officials are using National Insurance records to identify individuals who may have qualified for HRP between 1978 and 2010 but have no corresponding credits recorded.
Latest figures show State Pension underpayments remained at around £390 million in the year to April 2026, with National Insurance contribution errors continuing to account for a significant proportion of cases.
How to Check and Claim
People who believe they may have missing HRP years can check their National Insurance record and State Pension forecast online through GOV.UK. Individuals can still apply to have missing HRP added to their record even if they have already reached State Pension age. The DWP and HMRC say they will continue reviewing cases, correcting records, and making back payments to those found to have received less State Pension than they were entitled to.
