Mums can use free state pension form and avoid claims management fee
Parents who raised children in the 1980s and 1990s are being urged to check directly with HMRC whether they are owed extra state pension, rather than turning to claims management firms that could pocket up to 40% of any payout.
The issue affects many older mothers who have lost out on substantial sums due to gaps in their National Insurance records caused by an administrative error. HMRC has already paid out £100 million in arrears, with the average payment reaching around £8,000.
The problem stems from missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) records for parents who claimed child benefit between 1978 and 2000. In May 2000, it became mandatory to provide a National Insurance number when claiming child benefit, but before that date parents' entitlement to state pension protection was sometimes not properly recorded in their NI records.
HMRC has launched an extensive outreach campaign, sending 370,018 letters to potentially affected individuals between January 2024 and March 2025. The government first announced in July 2023 that it would begin contacting affected people from autumn that year, prioritising those already over state pension age before expanding to younger claimants from June 2024.
However, some claims management companies have begun charging fees as high as 40% to submit applications on behalf of parents – approximately £3,200 from the average £8,000 payout – for a process that individuals can complete themselves free of charge in roughly 15 minutes.
We encourage anyone who thinks they're missing Home Responsibilities Protection to check if they're eligible using our online tool. Claiming via Gov.uk is free and means they will keep 100 per cent of what they're owed – without having to pay fees of up to 40 per cent to third parties.
Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb, now a partner at LCP and This is Money's pension columnist, describes the HRP claim form as one of the simplest official forms he has encountered. 'Provided that you know the names and dates of birth of your children and a few other bits of information, you should have no trouble filling it in,' he says.
The Department for Work and Pensions became aware of the HRP state pension underpayment issue in 2022. It has since been identified as the second-largest source of state pension errors, behind only the £1.5 billion underpayment to married women and widows.
By September 2024, the correction exercise had identified 5,344 underpayments totalling around £42 million, with average arrears of £7,859. The programme has since accelerated, with total payouts now exceeding £100 million.
Understanding Home Responsibilities Protection
HRP was introduced in 1978-79 as a way of protecting the pension records of parents – predominantly mothers – who were unable to make National Insurance contributions because they were looking after children. Claimants could receive HRP for any complete financial year in which they received child benefit for a child under 16. From 2010-11, this upper age limit was reduced to 12.
For parents who reached state pension age before April 2010, each year of HRP reduced the number of qualifying years needed for a full basic state pension. Women needed 39 qualifying years and men needed 44 years without HRP. Each year of HRP knocked one year off this target, so nine years of HRP would reduce a woman's target from 39 years to 30 years.
In April 2010, the rules changed significantly. For those retiring after this date, all pre-2010 HRP years were converted into full qualifying years and count exactly the same as if the person had been in paid work and paying NICs. The system is now known as NI credits rather than HRP.
Why records went missing
The administrative error occurred because it was not compulsory to include National Insurance numbers on child benefit forms until May 2000. As a result, some parents' entitlement to state pension protection was never properly recorded on their NI records.
Child benefit records are deleted five years after a claim ends for data protection reasons, making it impossible now to identify everyone whose record is wrongly missing HRP. This is why HMRC cannot simply correct all records automatically and must rely on individuals checking and claiming for themselves.
HMRC has searched through NI records to find as many people as possible with no HRP who might nevertheless have been entitled to it, and has written to those it believes might have been affected.
Warning about claims management firms
The Financial Conduct Authority became responsible for regulating claims management companies in April 2019, following a government review that transferred oversight from the Ministry of Justice. In March 2022, the FCA introduced a fee cap limiting charges to a maximum of 30% of claims under £1,500, or £420, whichever is lower.
In May 2026, the FCA announced it was joining with other regulators including the Solicitors Regulation Authority to investigate claims management companies over concerns about misleading advertising, aggressive marketing and unfair exit fees.
HMRC is urging anyone considering using an agent to check the company's website to see what tax services they offer, read their terms and conditions to fully understand the fees, and ensure they are meeting HMRC's agent standards. When HMRC receives high volumes of claims via agents, this may lead to longer processing times.
How to make a claim
To find out if you are owed state pension due to an HRP error, you will need to provide the names and dates of birth of all your children, and details of the other parent. While having paperwork around child benefit will help with a claim, it can be successful without any documentation.
Claims can be made online or by post via Gov.uk. If someone suspects a deceased relative was underpaid, a representative – an executor, administrator or next of kin – can make a claim on their behalf.
If a claim is successful and an error is found, HMRC will update the NI record and the DWP will recalculate the state pension and inform the claimant whether they are due any arrears. While some backpayments are modest, others run to tens of thousands of pounds.
Support is available via the NI Helpline on 0300 200 3500, and there is also extra help available for people who need it.
