The Government has been accused of delivering a "hammer blow" to over 100,000 pensioners after quietly slashing its estimated repayments from £1 billion to just £29.8 million.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has admitted that it will only reach eight per cent of those affected by historic errors in their National Insurance records – a dramatic downgrade from its original target of 90 per cent.
The shortfall will mainly impact mothers now in their sixties and seventies who missed out on years of state pension payments due to gaps in the Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) scheme.
The HRP system, which was designed to protect parents (mainly mothers) who claimed child benefit between 1978 and 2010, failed to credit many with the National Insurance years they were owed. Without these credits, affected women were wrongly deemed ineligible for full pension entitlements.
A DWP correction exercise intended to rectify these errors officially ended in April 2025. However, figures now reveal the exercise barely scratched the surface, leaving the vast majority without redress, and many still unaware they were ever underpaid.
Campaigners say some pensioners are missing out on up to £4,500 a year due to the miscalculations
GETTYCampaigners say some pensioners are missing out on up to £4,500 due to the miscalculations.
Former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb said: "The total collapse in the expected amounts to be repaid shows how shocking the Government's failure has been."
He added: "Tens of thousands of mothers could be missing out on a higher pension and may never even have been told about it. This is a hammer blow for many who were relying on this correction to fix their retirement income."
Workers require 35 years of National Insurance contributions for the full new state pension, with a minimum of ten years needed to qualify for any payment.
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Parents who claimed child benefit during this period were meant to receive automatic credits towards their state pension entitlement, but system errors meant many who claimed before 2000 never received these credits.
In 2023, the DWP began contacting those potentially missing protection from their records, inviting them to submit claims and rectify any arrears owed.
Webb, condemned the outcome as "a shocking reduction in the amount of state pension arrears that the DWP now expects to pay out to mothers with errors on their National Insurance record."
He described the correction exercise as "a dismal failure" that was "entirely predictable given its reliance on a complicated online claims process."
The former pensions minister, who is now a partner at pensions consultancy LCP, criticised the Government's approach
GETTYThe former pensions minister, who is now a partner at pensions consultancy LCP, criticised the Government's approach, stating: "Although there will still be some publicity, the latest figures are an admission that the Government does not expect these efforts to have much impact."
He added: "It has all but given up on these mothers and this is totally unacceptable. It is time for a fresh campaign of direct mail to the women potentially affected, this time making it much easier for women to apply, supported by a fresh publicity blitz."
HM Revenue & Customs sent letters to 370,000 people, including 257,000 already over state pension age, yet only 12,379 pensioners have successfully corrected their records.
The DWP has paid £104 million to date to correct these cases, whilst acknowledging that fixing Home Responsibilities Protection claims was "inherently challenging."
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Despite the correction exercise officially ending in April 2025, the vast majority of eligible pensioners remain without the payments
GETTYThe department attributed the low response rate to recipients believing the HMRC letters were scams, whilst others struggled with the online application process or failed to understand the relevance of the issue.
Despite the correction exercise officially ending in April 2025, the vast majority of eligible pensioners remain without the payments they are entitled to receive.
The Government's reduced allocation represents a significant blow to thousands of mothers who were counting on these arrears to supplement their retirement income.