“It mainly affects women between the ages of 40 and 90,” Martin Lewis, the founder of Money Saving Expert, has announced.
State pensioners urged to come forward for ’15 years back pay’ but ‘onus is on you’
State pensioners have been urged to take action because they could be owed huge lump sums worth TENS OF THOUSANDS. BBC and ITV star Martin Lewis, 52, reckons some older people could be owed thousands of pounds from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HMRC.
“It mainly affects women between the ages of 40 and 90,” Mr Lewis, the founder of Money Saving Expert, has announced. “It’s for people who took time off work between 1978 and 2010 to look after their children,” he continued.
“Or, to care for someone who is long-term disabled.” He explained the issue centres on Home Responsibilities Protection, which was a scheme to help protect parents’ and carers’ State Pension. National Insurance credits replaced HRP in 2010.
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“You need those National Insurance years to get a full state pension,” he warned. “But it’s possible that over 100,000 women didn’t. And while the government had been trying to contact those women, it has stopped doing so now. So the onus is on you.”
“To show you how big this could be,” he continued, “Cilla got in touch with me and said, ‘I’ve just received 15 years’ back pay from HMRC of £31,674 for underpayment of my pension, thank you’.”
You may still be able to apply for HRP if, for full tax years (6 April to 5 April) between 1978 and 2010, you were either sharing the care of a child under 16 with a partner you lived with and they claimed Child Benefit instead of you – you may be able to transfer their HRP – or caring for a sick or disabled person
You can also apply if, for a full tax year between 2003 and 2010, you were either a foster carer or caring for a friend or family member’s child (‘kinship carer’) in Scotland.
Any HRP you had for full tax years before 6 April 2010 was automatically converted into National Insurance credits, if you needed them, up to a maximum of 22 qualifying years.