New figures show efforts to fix mothers’ state pension errors ‘proceeding at a snail’s pace’ – Steve Webb

Figures published in today’s Annual Report by the DWP reveals the process of fixing errors on the state pension payments of nearly 200,000 mothers is proceeding ‘at a snails’ pace’ according to LCP partner and former pensions minister Steve Webb. The DWP report says that work to fix the problem could continue until 2027/28.

The Government has admitted that large numbers of parents – mostly mothers – are missing ‘Home Responsibilities Protection’ (HRP) on their National Insurance record. HRP was designed to protect the pension record of those unable to work and pay NI contributions because of bringing up children. A check of state pension payments – prompted by the previous discovery of separate errors affecting over 100,000 widows, married women and over 80s – revealed this fresh group of errors for mothers.

The error has arisen because many Child Benefit claim forms submitted before 2000 did not include a National Insurance number and this means that the relevant HRP was not carried across from the Child Benefit computer to the National Insurance computer.

However, although HMRC started writing out to potential victims last Autumn, today’s report reveals that by end March 2024 DWP had assessed just 419 cases out of a total number expected to be affected of 194,000. Just £2.2m in arrears has so far been paid out compared with an estimated final bill of £1.15 billion.

One of the challenges is that HMRC has destroyed all its old Child Benefit records and therefore has to undertake a ‘fishing expedition’ writing out to women potentially affected and encouraging them to make a claim. However, in some cases, HMRC has written out to very elderly pensioners encouraging them to check their eligibility on a website before submitting a claim or has asked for records and information about children which parents may not have.

Even when HMRC has identified a potentially eligible woman and has received a claim form in response, it then needs to update NI records and then DWP has to do a state pension reassessment. This entire process means that only a few hundred mothers who have lost out have so far been paid out.

The errors have been going on so long that a substantial number of those who missed out have now died and any payment would go to their estate. The DWP annual report suggests that out of a best estimate of 194,000 mothers missing out, around 151,000 are still alive but 43,000 have died. Many of the remaining mothers are now elderly, adding to the urgency of fixing the problem.

Commenting, Steve Webb said:

“Once the government realised that nearly 200,000 mothers may have been underpaid their state pension, action should have been taken to fix the problem with much greater urgency, especially as many of those who have lost out are now elderly. Instead, DWP has so far assessed fewer than 500 cases out of that total, and the exercise is proceeding at a snail’s pace. When the government talks about continuing the exercise into 2027/28 it is clear that this issue is not getting the priority that it deserves”.

With regard to the previous group of errors relating to married women, widows and the over 80s, which is due to be completed by the end of 2024, the annual report reveals that just under 100,000 people (99,558) had received payments by the end of March 2024, with a combined value of £594m. This total included around 44,000 married women, 23,000 widows/widowers and 33,000 over 80s.

The DWP annual report can be found here: Annual report & accounts 2023-24. Information on the HRP correction exercise is on pp129-131.