Martin Lewis has urged people to “spread the word” that hundreds of thousands of people are set to receive a letter from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) saying they may be in arrears with their underpaid state pension. called out to the people.
Financial journalists warned people that this is not a scam and that they should not ignore this letter.
Lewis, founder of Money Saving Expert, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Please spread the word. 100,000 people, mostly women aged 66 and over who took time off from work to raise children between 1978 and 2010, will receive HMRC letters worth £10,000 for missing state pensions. It is supposed to be.
“This is not a scam. Please don’t throw that letter in the box.” (sic)
DWP set aside £1bn to repay people who are short on the state pension
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Lewis continued to share links to articles on the issue. Savings expert website.
The DWP estimates that more than 200,000 people are underpaid in their state pension because they fail to record their time at home with their children on their National Insurance records.
At the time, the system was known as Family Responsibility Protection (HRP), and it elevated the state pension status of parents (mainly mothers) receiving child benefit who were not in paid work.
The DWP set aside £1 billion to repay them.
In these cases, a typical state pension arrears payment will be around £2,000, although some people may end up paying much more. For example, a 74-year-old pensioner received a state pension increase of £29.68 per week and a lump sum of £1. 16,966.
A government spokesperson said: “We have identified and are rectifying issues relating to Family Responsibility Protection history records in National Insurance records for people who first claimed child benefit before May 2000.”
“Most people’s records will not be affected. We have launched a new online tool that will allow people to check whether they need to make a claim. HMRC could be affected as soon as this autumn I plan to start writing letters to people.
“Our priority is to ensure everyone receives the financial support they are entitled to, and the rate of underpayment of the National Pension due to official errors remains low at 0.5% of expenditure. If an error occurs, we will try to fix it as soon as possible.”
HMRC is currently contacting those it believes are “most likely” to be affected by this issue, but others may be on low pay and are wondering if their loved ones fall into this category. It might be worth checking out.
LCP partner Steve Webb, who has campaigned on the issue for more than a decade, urged people to check whether they are eligible.
He told GB News: “We are aware that there may be errors in the NI records of many mothers, particularly those who applied for child benefit before 2000.
LCP partner Steve Webb urged people to check whether they can claim their rights.
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“This happened because people claiming child benefit did not have to provide an NI number, and this meant credits for time at home with the child were linked from the child benefit computer to the National Insurance computer. This means that it may not have been possible.”
“For mothers who have spent many years at home with their children, the impact on their state pension can be significant.
“We advise mothers who claimed Child Benefit before 2000 and have not received their full pension to check to ensure they are receiving the HRP they are entitled to.”
The government has created an online tool that allows people to self-assess: Find out if you’re eligible for HRP.
