HMRC has warned that thousands of women may be missing out on state pension payments. From April 6, 1978, to April 5, 2010, anyone who stopped working to care for the family while claiming child benefits was supposed to be automatically granted “Home Responsibilities Protection” (HRP). However, numerous individuals have not received proper HRP credits due to shortcomings in the tracking system, which particularly affects women.
The Government said: “Some people may have Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) missing from their National Insurance records. This could affect their State Pension. HRP was a scheme to help protect parents’ and carers’ entitlement to State Pensions. National Insurance credits replaced HRP from April 6, 2010. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are working together to find people affected and correct their records so they receive the correct amount of State Pension.”
There is still an opportunity to apply for HRP for full tax years within that frame if they were claiming child benefit for a child under 16, looking after a child while their partner claimed the benefit, or receiving income support for caring for a sick or disabled person. Additional qualifications include providing care for someone eligible for certain disability benefits such as attendance allowance, disability living allowance, and constant attendance allowance.
The State Pension you may receive upon reaching the State Pension age is determined by your National Insurance record and the number of ‘qualifying years’ you have. If you reached the State Pension age before April 6, 2010, Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) could have reduced the number of qualifying years needed to receive the full basic State Pension by up to 22 years.
To qualify for a full basic State Pension, women required 39 qualifying years, and men needed 44. If you reached State Pension age on or after April 6, 2010, HRP was converted into National Insurance credits, if necessary, up to a maximum of 22 qualifying years.
If you reached the State Pension age between April 6, 2010 and April 5, 2016, you required 30 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to receive the full basic state pension.
If you reached the State Pension age before April 6, 2016. In that case, you might have been eligible for Additional State Pension if you qualified for HRP because you received Child Benefit for a child under the age of 6 or were caring for a sick or disabled person (including a child over the age of 6) who was receiving certain benefits.
The Government website continues: “The amount of State Pension someone gets is based on their National Insurance record and the number of ‘qualifying years’ they have.
“If someone claimed Child Benefit before May 2000 and did not provide their National Insurance Number on the claim, their National Insurance record may not show the correct number of qualifying years of HRP. This may affect their State Pension entitlement. Women in their 60s and 70s are most likely to be affected. If someone first claimed Child Benefit after May 2000, they will not be affected do not need to contact HMRC. This is because it became mandatory in May 2000 to provide a National Insurance Number for Child Benefit claims.
“Class 3 National Insurance credits for parents and carers (CPC) available from April 6, 2010 have been recorded correctly, as have partial periods of HRP.”
If you reached State Pension age after April 6, 2016, you might be eligible for the new State Pension.
