UK women eligible for missing pension payments due to HMRC error

Pension experts say women who took time off work or reduced hours to care for children between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2010 may be owed an average of £8,377. The Home Responsibilities Protection scheme was intended to protect their state‑pension entitlement, but historic HMRC mistakes left many National Insurance records unlinked to Child Benefit or Family Allowance applications, meaning thousands of women missed the credit.

HMRC estimates around 210,000 individuals could be affected and has sent more than 370,000 letters prompting them to check their records. The Department for Work and Pensions and HMRC are working together to correct the errors, with contact prioritised for those already over state‑pension age since September 2023.