![\"Money](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_dan1PNG.png\")
<\/p>\nOne viewer told BBC Morning Live she received a back payment of \u00a335,000 and had her weekly pension boosted immediately<\/p>\n
13:23, 24 Mar 2026Updated 15:06, 24 Mar 2026<\/p>\n
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Money Box journalist Dan Whitworth urged people to check if they can claim the money(Image: BBC)<\/p>\n
A BBC expert has explained how anyone who had children in a 32-year period could be due a huge back payment due to an HMRC mix-up. The issue is around Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP), a scheme that ran between April 1978 and April 2010.<\/p>\n
HRP was designed to protect parents and carers who were unable to build up full National Insurance contributions because they were looking after children or caring for someone who was sick or disabled.<\/p>\n
BBC<\/a> Radio 4\u2019s Money Box journalist Dan Whitworth previously spoke about the mix-up, which has left around \u00a31.2 billion owed to people in missing HRP payments. The Department for Work and Pensions<\/a> (DWP<\/a>) launched a correction scheme in 2023.<\/p>\n Speaking on BBC Morning Live, Mr Whitworth said: \u201cThis is specifically<\/a> something to do with home responsibilities protection or HRP. And it doesn\u2019t really matter what it\u2019s called, too much. What matters is when people, mainly women, took time out of the workplace to care for children and claim child benefit, they should have had this HRP added to their national insurance records so that when they came to retire, they didn\u2019t lose out on their state pension because they weren\u2019t working.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were actually raising children, which is obviously good for everybody<\/a>, right? But essentially, what it does is when you have HRP added to your record. It brings down the number of years you need to qualify for a full state pension. Now, you can get HRP. So, there are certain criteria you have to fill. So, you can get HRP if you\u2019re claiming child benefit for under-16s.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd this was between 1978 and 2010. So, if this is you claiming child benefit for <\/a>under 16s, between 1978 and 2010, if you\u2019re getting income support for caring for sick or disabled people, or if you are caring for a sick or disabled person who is claiming certain benefits. So if you meet any of those criteria that you can see on your screen now, this could be worth you claiming for this money.\u201d<\/p>\n In one case highlighted by the show, a viewer watched the description and launched a claim. She was at home with her child for 13 years during the 1980s and was claiming Child Benefit. HRP should have reduced her required contributions from 39 years to 26 years, allowing her to receive the full State Pension. Because those credits were missing, her pension had been underpaid for 16 years. Once corrected, she received a lump sum of over \u00a335,500 and her weekly pension rose from \u00a3120 to \u00a3180.<\/p>\n Mr Whitworth said: \u201cIt\u2019s the most remarkable story. I\u2019ve been working with Money Stories for about seven years and this is one of the most standout I\u2019ve ever come across. Watching Morning Live prompted her to apply for her underpaid state pension Just a few days ago, I received an email from HMRC sent to her on her behalf. \u00a335,000.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s not just that obviously life-changing sum of money that she was owed, but also going forward her state pension now is going to be an extra \u00a360 per week, which she should always have been getting paid by the way, which she wasn\u2019t. But \u00a360 week. You times that by month, you times that by year. \u201c<\/p>\n When the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) launched a correction scheme in 2023, it estimated that around \u00a31.2 billion was owed to people in missing HRP payments. The government expected that around 90% of those eligible would claim.<\/p>\n In practice, uptake has been far lower. As of March 2025, only 8% of people affected had come forward, leading to just \u00a3104 million in repayments. That leaves more than \u00a31.1 billion unclaimed.<\/p>\n HMRC is utilising National Insurance (NI) records to locate as many individuals as possible who may have been entitled to HRP between 1978 and 2010 but have no HRP on their NI record, and is dispatching letters to some. Experts have estimated tens of thousands of people are due an average of \u00a35,000 in back payments.<\/p>\n How to check if you are owed money<\/p>\n If you think you may be affected by HRP underpayments, there are clear steps you can take:<\/p>\n Call HMRC on 0300 200 3500 and ask to check if you are eligible for Home Responsibilities Protection credits.<\/p>\n