Home Responsibilities Protection briefing for Pensions Awareness Week

This Pensions Awareness Week, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is encouraging people who have retired or close to retirement, to check their National Insurance (NI) record for any gaps which could affect their full entitlement to State Pension.

Parents and carers who took time away from employment to raise a family between 1978 and May 2000 may well have gaps in their NI record.

If they claimed Child Benefit during this period, they should have received something called Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP). This was designed to help protect the State Pension of parents and carers by reducing the number of qualifying years needed on an NI record.

While HRP was automatically applied to the NI records of people who included their NI number when claiming Child Benefit, those who claimed Child Benefit before May 2000 who didn’t have to include their NI number, may not have it.

HMRC and DWP have been attempting to contact those people (mostly women) who may be missing HRP from their NI records for the last 3 years – including sending 340,000 letters inviting people to check their eligibility and consider making a claim.

Following the successful trial of a revised letter, we will be sending a further 311,000 letters between now and the end of March 2027. 215,000 of these letters will be to people currently above State Pension age.

For the first time, to make it easier for people to make a claim for HRP, the CF411 claim form is included with the letter. Customers who receive a letter can simply fill in the form using their personal details and put it straight back in the post. But, if customers can, going online is still the quickest way to find out if they are missing HRP by using the GOV.UK eligibility tool. They can also submit their claim online.

Either way, claiming HRP is free, with no need to use a third party who will take a cut.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Chief Customer Officer, said:

“We’re hopeful that by including the claim form in the letter, people are more likely to fill it in, send it back and find out quickly and easily whether their entitlement will increase on retirement or, if they’ve reached State Pension age, they’re owed a payout.”

Since HMRC began sending letters in September 2023, more than 25,000 people have had HRP added to their National Insurance records. Nearly all are above State Pension age, receiving a share of more than £100 million in pension arrears payments. The average value of the arrears payments made to people missing HRP has been around £8,000.

HRP was replaced by National Insurance credits in 2010 – so anyone who started claiming Child Benefit after this date will not be affected.

For anyone who needs help making a claim, they can call the National Insurance Helpline on 0300 200 3500. There is also extra support available online.