Brits are being warned to watch out for a letter from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that could boost your pension pot by thousands of pounds.
The Money Saving Expert has warned anyone receiving a state pension that tens of thousands of Brits will be getting a letter from HMRC to inform them that they may be missing out on their full pension entitlement.
The website shares that ‘100,000s of people - mostly women - may be missing out on their full state pension entitlement due to an error in their national insurance records’.
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The underpayments are reported to specifically affect people who took time off work to care for family between 1978 and 2010 - as they could be missing something called 'home responsibilities protection' (HRP).
A report published by the National Audit Office in July this year stated: “DWP [the Department for Work and Pensions] has identified missing periods of HRP on the National Insurance records of some women who had received Child Benefit.
"This led to underpayments of State Pension, which is calculated based on those National Insurance records. Both Child Benefit and National Insurance records are administered by HM Revenue & Customs.
“DWP now estimates that it has underpaid around £1.3 billion of State Pension to 210,000 people, mostly women, due to missing HRP records.”
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It went on: “Of the cases identified by DWP so far, the average (median) amount of State Pension that DWP had underpaid was around £2,000, but the highest underpayment it found was £33,300.”
The UK Government is now in the process of writing to those affected ‘in phases’, with those over state pension age (66) being contacted first.
HMRC hasn’t published exactly what the letters will say due to concerns scammers may copy the text and send out their own bogus letters, but the letter may have the title ‘You may be eligible for home responsibilities protection’.
As ever, it’s important to be vigilant for scammers, so if you or someone you know has been sent a letter and is concerned about the legitimacy, you can check a list of recent letters sent by HMRC here or you can contact HMRC directly by calling 0300 200 3500 and checking in with them.
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If you get a letter you will be asked to check if you’re eligible on the government website here - and if you are eligible you’ll be able to submit your claim online.
Claire Reid