Martin Lewis urges thousands of people aged over 41 to claim after DWP error

More than 100,000 people over the age of 41 could qualify for a form of compensation from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), after a common error when filling in a form 20 years ago has left people missing out on thousands of pounds they are owed.

A scheme that was set up to protect the pensions of people with caring responsibilities who took time out of the workforce to look after children or someone with a long-term illness, was not correctly applied to lots of people's records who might have left their National Insurance number off a form. This is an easy mistake to make, but if you do not correct it, you could find yourself missing out in later life.

Martin Lewis said in his weekly email: "This is about Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) - a Govt system designed to protect the state pension for mainly mothers who chose to take time off work to look after their children or care for someone with a long-term medical condition/disability. 100,000s are likely to be owed £1,000s - if ALL the following apply."

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To qualify for this scheme, you must be between the age of 41 and 90, though Martin Lewis says it is most common for those aged 60 to 80. You must also have taken time off work to look after a child or person with disability, at some point between 1978 and 2010, and have claimed Child Benefit or Income Support for the first time before May 2000.

It is on this Child Benefit or Income Support form that hundreds of thousands made this mistake and did not enter their National Insurance number. Martin Lewis added: "This is as the system was beset with errors, leaving many having gaps in their NI records that