187,000 state pensioners are due £5,000 in back payments

Some 187,000 people are due state pension back payments after they were underpaid because of an issue with their National Insurance (NI) record.

The issue relates mostly to women in their 60s and 70s who may be missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) from their NI record.

HMRC is poring over NI records to identify anyone who may have been entitled to HRP between 1978 and 2010 and who does not have it on their record.

The department will write to anyone who fits the criteria with details of how they can claim online.

The Government estimates some 187,000 people are due an average of £5,000 in back payments.

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Some 210,000 people have been underpaid a total of £1.3billion in state pension payments, according to the National Audit Office.

Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, warns it may be a long process until people get their back payments.

She said: “The scale of the state pension underpayments is staggering and has caused many thousands of people unnecessary financial distress.

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“People have an expectation that they will receive the correct amount of state pension at the right time and for so many people this has not been the case.

“The identification of Home Responsibilities Protection claimants as another group affected is disappointing.”

She warned there is “every chance” those affected could continue to be overlooked and not get the amount they are due.

Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister who is now a partner at LCP (Lane Clark & Peacock) recently said: “The scale of these errors is huge.

“It is shocking that so many women have been underpaid so much money. This makes it essential that things are put right as a matter of urgency.”

The full new state pension is currently £203.85 a week while the full basic state pension is £156.20 a week.

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