child care pension credits

Did you have a child between 1978 and 2000 and take work break? Have you had a letter - the UK govt is backtracking to correct mistakes made in NI - guessing that is many Gransnet members, so worth a share

HMRC is coming to the end of a huge mailout of letters sent to those who are most likely to have been affected by an error in their state pension, largely mothers who claimed child benefit before 2000 and have a gap in their National Insurance (NI) record.

Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) was applied to the NI records of those who claimed child benefit between 1978 and 2000, to protect their state pension. It reduced the number of qualifying years a person with caring responsibilities needed to receive the full basic state pension. It was replaced by National Insurance credits in 2010.

However, if someone claimed child benefit before May 2000 and didn't provide their NI number on their claim, HRP may not have been applied and their state pension entitlement could have been affected.

HMRC says that if people are missing HRP from their NI record, it doesn’t automatically mean their state pension calculation is incorrect, but it does increase the possibility, particularly if they spent a number of years away from work to raise a family.