Martin Lewis’s tip for fogeys ‘in line for £5,000’ – what it’s essential to know

Need to know

Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has warned that parents who had children between 1978 and 2010 could be owed substantial state pension payments, with one woman receiving £31,000

What you need to know as Martin Lewis reveals pension blunder:

• Money-saving guru Martin Lewis has revealed a massive government blunder could see pensioners owed tens of thousands of pounds in missing cash. The personal finance expert warned on his BBC podcast that more than 100,000 women aged 40 to 90 could be entitled to backdated payments due to an administrative blunder with Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP).
• He said the error mainly affects women who took time off work between 1978 and 2010 to look after children or care for disabled relatives. One woman called Cilla told him: “I’ve just received 15 years back pay from HMRC of £31,674 for underpayment of my pension.”
• Lewis advised people to check their projected state pension on gov.uk and look for gaps between 1978 and 2010. He warned: “If they were the years that you were not working to look after your children or someone who had long-term disabilities… you could be owed money.”
• The Department for Work and Pensions estimates it has underpaid pensioners between £300million and £1.5billion in state pension due to HRP recording errors. Accounting firm Robson Laidler suggests people could be owed roughly £5,000 on average.
• HRP was designed to protect parents’ and carers’ state pension rights by giving them National Insurance (NI) credits for years spent out of work. But many eligible people never received these crucial credits on their NI records. HMRC is sending letters to some affected people, but experts warn not to wait for contact and to check your own National Insurance records immediately.
• READ THE FULL STORY: Martin Lewis says parents who gave birth from 1978-2010 ‘could be in line for £5,000’