Thousands to receive letter from HMRC telling them they are owed money

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is set to send out letters to thousands, informing them they may be owed additional money. The people being written to, many of which will be older women, will be asked if they have information missing from their national insurance (NI) records which could have a direct effect on their state pension.

One of the things missing from their records could be home responsibilities protection (HRP). HRP was set up to help protect parents' and carers' entitlement to state pension - it was replaced by NI credits from April 6, 2010.

HMRC will contact those affected throughout the following autumn with those over state pension age being contacted first. Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features Meanwhile, the Department for Work released an annual report and accounts which estimated there are “around 187,000 cases who may have an underpayment of state pension and for whom we expect to correct”.

However, 43,000 of those are thought to have died, according to DWP documents. If someone claimed child benefit before May 2000 and did not provide their NI number on the claim, their NI record may not show the correct number of qualifying years of HRP, which could affect their state pension entitlement.