HMRC finally opens door for thousands to claim missing pensions

The UK’s tax authority has announced that claims for missing pensions from pensions reclaim specialists are now being processed.

The claims are related to Home Responsibilities Protection, which was introduced to protect the state pension rights of parents who left work to care for children.

HMRC errors meant that some of this entitlement was not correctly recorded, leaving thousands of people – mostly women – with lower state pensions.

AskRose, a pension reclaim specialist, says that dozens of its clients have died since beginning the claims process.

AskRose, which supports more than 100,000 claimants, has warned that many claimants are elderly or in poor health. They say that a speedy resolution of the cases is essential to ensure those entitled receive their pension corrections during their lifetime.

HMRC has now announced that claimants using reclaim specialists, like AskRose, will now be able to apply for their fair share of the pension pot, with the average claim value being £8,377*.

This follows the government tax body’s attempt in 2023 to write to every affected pensioner in the UK. They expected a 90% uptake in claims – but the letters gathered a response rate of just eight per cent. The Department for Work and Pensions set aside £1.2 billion for the claims.

AskRose is calling for the claims process to be as efficient as possible so that eligible women can receive the pension payments to which they are entitled without unnecessary delay.

Elaine Walker, Director of AskRose, said: “While we welcome HMRC’s belated decision to allow approved and vetted reclaims specialists to assist these elderly claimants, we really hope that they can keep the process as efficient as possible for the sake of the women involved.

“In the time it has taken for them to open this process up, too many of our clients have sadly passed away before being able to claim the money they were owed. They were left, in some cases, for more than 15 years without a fair pension and were then unable to even enjoy getting their recompense.

“These are the people who cared for the younger generations and are now suffering because of a government error. They brought us up; the least that we can do is make sure they don’t get punished for that in their dotage.”

The age of most of those able to claim is 60-79 years. Approximately one in 10 women (more than 55,000) in that age group die every year.

HRP explained: Before 2010, you needed 39 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions if you were a woman, or 44 years if you were a man, to receive a full basic State Pension. HRP reduced that number year by year. Each year of HRP removed one year from the total required, up to a maximum of 22 years.

You could qualify if you:

• Claimed Child Benefit for a child under 16.
• Were a partner of someone who claimed Child Benefit while you were the main carer.
• Received Income Support as a carer.
• Looked after someone who was sick or disabled and receiving certain benefits.

You can check your eligibility by calling HMRC on 0300 200 3500 or using the government’s online tool or by contacting AskRose who will complete the claims process for you for a small percentage of the ‘back-pay’ of the pension but none of the future payments.