They said: “We’re determined to help people who’ve been left out of pocket due to historical errors which are no fault of their own.
“That’s why we wrote to more than 370,000 people potentially affected, and launched an online tool to help people check if they can claim. We ran an extensive campaign to raise awareness of the issue and will continue regular communications to get people to check their National Insurance record.”
What was the Home Responsibilities Protection scheme?
HRP operated from 1978 until 2010, aiming to safeguard the NI contributions on one’s record. This was crucial for accruing state pension eligibility, during periods spent out of work while caring for children or incapacitated individuals.
In certain instances, HRP was absent from individuals’ records, resulting in their NI contributions and subsequent state pension payments being lower than they ought to have been.
This problem predominantly impacts women who took career breaks to bring up their children, though anyone who provided care for someone during this timeframe could be affected.
If you believe you were missing HRP, click here to go to Gov.uk and request for it to be included in your record.
HMRC was also questioned about what occurs when HRP is incorporated into someone’s NI record, reports the Mirror. The tax office explained: “If someone has a period of HRP added as a result of an application, first HMRC will determine the number of years of National Insurance that should be added to their record.
“DWP will then apply this to the individual’s state pension eligibility and determine what impact (if any) it will have on their state pension payments.”
Should you apply for HRP and disagree with the outcome and how it influences your state pension, if the disagreement concerns the number of years on your record, you should contact HMRC. If the matter relates to your state pension entitlement, get in touch with the Department for Work and Pensions.