Women in Their 60s and 70s Set to Receive Long-Awaited State Pension Backpayments

It has been confirmed that approximately 210,000 individuals, predominantly women, are set to receive back payments for state pension underpayments. This follows a recent report which uncovered gaps in the National Insurance records of hundreds of thousands of people, particularly women, due to errors made by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Letters are currently being dispatched to those potentially affected by this issue, with the DWP and HMRC collaborating to rectify the underpayments. The total sum owed to those affected is estimated to be as high as £1.3 billion, with individual payments potentially reaching £5,000.

The DWP has announced that individuals in their 60s and 70s will be the first to receive their letters, and a response to these letters is expected to be published regularly in the coming months. The process of correcting the underpayments commenced in the autumn of 2023, and the HMRC and DWP are presently working through the initial responses.

In light of this development, it is imperative for individuals to review their National Insurance records to ascertain their eligibility for the Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) scheme. Seeking professional advice may be necessary to fully understand the extent of one’s entitlements and to safeguard one’s pension rights.

HRP was a scheme introduced to safeguard the state pension of parents and carers, and it was later replaced by National Insurance credits in 2010. Those who were claiming Child Benefit for a child under 16, or Income Support due to caring for a sick or disabled person and were unavailable for work between April 6, 1978, and April 5, 2010, would have received HRP automatically.

However, as the DWP prepares to review numerous claims in the coming years, concerns have been raised regarding the risks associated with outsourcing this work. Dame Meg Hillier MP stressed the importance of closely scrutinising this process to uphold public confidence in the system’s integrity.

Despite the challenges associated with identifying and rectifying these underpayments, the DWP remains committed to addressing errors as promptly as possible to ensure that everyone receives the financial support they are entitled to.

The issuance of these back payments to women in their 60s and 70s not only represents a significant step towards rectifying past errors but also serves as a reminder of the importance of meticulous record-keeping and maintaining eligibility for pension entitlements.