HMRC and DWP State Pension '£5,000 error' letters being sent to thousands

Hundreds of thousands of older women could receive a letter from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) this winter. The messages will inform many that their National Insurance (NI) record may contain missing periods of Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP).

This could have affected the level of Basic or New State Pension they are entitled to. The Treasury began issuing these letters over a year ago and is working with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to rectify any administrative errors as swiftly as possible.

Approximately 210,000 older individuals - predominantly women - are due a share of underpayments totalling £1.5 billion. That's equivalent to around £5,000 each.

Those affected by the error are expected to receive any back payments by the end of next year. The DWP has previously stated that those closest to the State Pension age in their 60s and 70s are being issued letters first.

However, anyone who believes they may have been affected can check their eligibility online using the self-identification tool on GOV. UK.

The DWP estimates it underpaid between £300 million and £1.5 billion of State Pension due to errors with the recording of HRP. HRP was a scheme designed to help protect parents' and carers' entitlement to the State Pension and was replaced by NI credits from April 6, 2010, reports the Daily Record.

HMRC is using NI records to identify as many people as possible who might have been entitled to HRP between 1978 and 2010 and have no HRP on their NI record.

From May 2000 onwards, it became compulsory to include a National Insurance number on claims, meaning those who claimed after this date will not have been affected. It's estimated that tens of thousands of individuals are due an average of £5,000