HMRC warns thousands of Brits don’t know they’re ‘missing state pension payments’ - How to check

To mark Pensions Awareness Week, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are reaching out to the tens of thousands of Brits who aren’t getting the full amount of state pension they are entitled to, or may be missing out on a well-deserved boost to their retirement income. This is because a glitch in the benefits system could mean they’re missing the Home Responsibilities Protection on their National Insurance record.

The amount of state pension you receive on the new system is based on the amount of qualifying years you have, for most this will be one full year of paying National Insurance contributions but there are some other ways to get qualifying years including voluntary contributions and National Insurance credits which come with some benefits such as Child Benefit. This is where the issue will come in for some retirees who were parents around the turn of the century.

HMRC is urging anyone who claimed Child Benefit between 1978 and 2000 to double check their National Insurance record as they should have received Home Responsibilities Protection instead of National Insurance credits. However, if you didn’t provide your NI number on the claim this might not have been applied at all.

As a result, you could have lengthy gaps in your National Insurance record that means you’re receiving far less or potentially no state pension. The department highlighted that missing the Home Responsibilities Protection “doesn’t automatically mean their State Pension calculation is incorrect”, but makes it highly likely that those years you spent raising a family has greatly impacted your retirement.

HMRC and DWP are actively trying to identify the tens of thousands of people affected and encourage them to make a claim for HRP to amend their