The billion pound pension fund up for grabs

Monday 15 September marked the 12^th anniversary of Pension Awareness which aims to boost understanding and encourage people to take control of their retirement planning.

At Equilibrium, we regularly promote the importance of personal pensions, but when it comes to their State Pension, you or someone you know may be due a slice of the £1.2 billion pie that the government has set aside! (Source: www.bbc.co.uk)

As you may or may not be aware, to qualify for the full State Pension, claimants must have a certain number of qualifying years of National Insurance (NI) credits. Prior to 2010, the number of qualifying years was 39 for a woman and 44 for a man, and two of the most common ways to build up the credits was through employment or by fulfilling childcare responsibilities.

However, whilst the credits were automatically applied for the employed, this wasn’t necessarily the case for those who were claiming Child Benefit before May 2000.

Prior to the turn of the millennium, NI credits were not in existence and instead for those claiming child benefit, a scheme called Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) was used to record the details of claimants.

In many instances, HRP was not recorded on an individual’s NI record because it was not required for a claim. As a result, the credited years may not have been applied when assessing eligibility for the State Pension, potentially leading to an incorrect and much lower pension income amount.

In 2023, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) acknowledged the issue and launched a correction scheme, which estimated that around £1.2 billion was owed to people in missing HRP credits. The government expected that around 90% of those eligible would claim and wrote out to 100,000s of people – mostly women – who they think may be entitled.

However as of March 2025, only 8% of people affected have come forward even though the average back payment is estimated to be £5,000 and, in some instances, it has been over £35,000! (Source: BBC Morning Live)

So, what is stopping people from making a claim? With widespread reporting of scams involving HMRC, many are just binning the letters, whilst others are put off by having to use the online system. With a process that involves the individual themselves identifying if they are eligible, rather than an automatic correction being applied, it is no wonder the uptake is so low.

How can you check?

At Equilibrium, we want to raise awareness of the scheme as there is no doubt that we have a significant number of clients who were raising children in the 1980s and 90s. With Child Benefit not being means-tested, the scope of those eligible is huge.

Before taking any further action, it’s important to first check whether you have any gaps in your National Insurance record between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2010, as this is the period during which Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) could affect your entitlement. If there are gaps in these years, you may be eligible for a correction.

We would then recommend using this eligibility checker, or call HMRC on 0300 200 3500 and ask to check if you are eligible for Home Responsibility Protection credits.

If you would like our help or any further assistance, please contact your financial planner or client manager who will gladly help.

This blog is intended as an informative piece and should not be construed as advice. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us using the form below or by reaching out to your usual Equilibrium contact.