Thousands of pensioners could be owed an average of £8,377 after a historic childcare credits error left parents and carers with missing National Insurance years. The issue dates back decades and could particularly affect women who claimed Child Benefit before May 2000.
The warning was highlighted by BBC Morning Live, which reported that some people have received thousands of pounds in backdated payments after missing credits were discovered. The error involves an old scheme known as Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP).
Scale of the problem
By the end of March 2025, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) had identified 12,379 State Pension underpayments and paid out around £104 million in arrears. The average payment was £8,377, meaning some pensioners could be in line for a substantial windfall if their records are corrected.
One woman featured by BBC Morning Live had spent 13 years at home caring for her child in the 1980s. Once her record was corrected, she received a lump sum of more than £35,500 and her weekly pension increased from £120 to £180.
Why the error happened
HRP was introduced in 1978 to help protect the State Pension position of people who stepped away from paid work to care for children or sick or disabled people. It operated until 2010, when it was replaced by National Insurance credits for parents and carers. Under the old system, HRP could reduce the number of qualifying years a person needed to receive the full basic State Pension.
But HMRC says problems arose particularly where people claimed Child Benefit before May 2000 without giving their National Insurance number. In those cases, the HRP entitlement may never have been properly transferred to their National Insurance record. The result is that someone could have spent years caring for their children but later find those years missing when their State Pension was calculated. The Government has warned that women in their 60s and 70s are among those most likely to be affected.
Anyone who first claimed Child Benefit after May 2000 should not be affected by this particular problem because providing a National Insurance number became compulsory at that point.
More than £1 billion still to be paid?
The Government initially estimated that around £1.15 billion could be needed to deal with the HRP problem. But the number of people coming forward has been much lower than expected. DWP's latest annual report says the correction exercise has resulted in substantially lower activity than originally forecast, with only £104 million paid out by March 2025.
Earlier estimates put the potential number of people affected at around 194,000, although the Government has stressed that the figures are estimates and the final scale of the problem remains uncertain. The Public Accounts Committee has previously put the potential number of people affected higher, at around 210,000, with an estimated £1.3 billion in underpayments. It said it was “very concerned” that another major historic underpayment had been uncovered, warning that hundreds of thousands of pensioners could be left out of pocket.
Why haven't more people claimed?
The Government has acknowledged that the response to the correction exercise has been disappointing. Research commissioned by DWP found that some people did not understand the letters they received, did not recognise the term Home Responsibilities Protection or were worried that correspondence about missing pension payments could be a scam. Others may simply assume they are not eligible or find the online process difficult.
There is also a problem with the historic records themselves. HMRC says Child Benefit records were routinely deleted five years after a claim ended for data-protection reasons, meaning records are no longer available for everyone who could potentially have been entitled to HRP. This means the Government cannot simply identify every affected pensioner and automatically put things right.
Could you be affected?
You may be worth checking if you: claimed Child Benefit for a child under 16 before 2010; claimed Child Benefit before May 2000 and did not give your National Insurance number; were the main carer for a child while your partner claimed Child Benefit; received Income Support as a carer; or cared for someone who was sick or disabled and received certain qualifying benefits.
Even if you have not received a letter from HMRC, you can still check whether you may be entitled. HMRC has an online eligibility service and applications can also be made using postal form CF411. People who are already over State Pension age and cannot use the online service can contact the National Insurance helpline on 0300 200 3500.
If HMRC finds missing HRP, it can correct the National Insurance record and DWP can then recalculate the State Pension. Any arrears owed can be paid retrospectively.
The money could be significant
The sums involved can vary dramatically depending on how many years of HRP are missing and the person's pension circumstances. The official average arrears payment identified so far is £8,377. For someone who has been underpaid for many years, however, the amount can be considerably higher – as the BBC Morning Live case demonstrates.
The full new State Pension is currently £241.30 a week, or around £12,548 a year, while the full basic State Pension is £184.90 a week. A correction to someone's National Insurance record could therefore mean both a lump-sum payment and a higher regular pension.
Families should also be aware that HMRC says tax may be due on an increase in State Pension and on arrears, depending on an individual's circumstances. The Government's own advice is therefore simple: check your record rather than assuming you are not affected. And for relatives of people who have died, there can still be a route to claiming money that was owed to them. HMRC says families may be able to check eligibility and claim arrears on behalf of someone who has died.
