Government has repaid £594m to 99,558 people underpaid state pension due to errors

The government has repaid £594m to 99,558 people who were underpaid their state pension because of system errors, according to figures reported on 5 September 2024¹. The total covers two separate correction exercises: the error relating to Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP), which is missing from some people's National Insurance records, and the Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practices (LEAP) process, which corrects official errors where groups of pensioners were found to have been underpaid¹.

The 99,558 recipients include around 44,000 married women, 23,000 widows and widowers, and 33,000 people over 80¹. The HRP correction mainly involves parents, mostly mothers, whose National Insurance record does not show the HRP they were entitled to¹. In August 2024, former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb urged widows and widowers to check they were being paid the correct amount, following concerns that those widowed before retiring were being paid the wrong amount¹.

Separate analysis by Royal London, published in the same report, found that 1,737,342 of the 3,407,567 people receiving the new state pension received the full weekly amount in 2023-24, when the state pension was worth £203.85 a week¹. That left 49% receiving less than the full amount¹. Royal London said 149,317 pensioners were paid less than £100 a week, 17,546 received less than £20 a week and 5,677 received less than £10 a week¹. The data quoted is for the quarter to May 2023, extracted from Stat-Xplore, to which the Department for Work and Pensions referred Royal London¹.

Source: Royal London analysis, quarter to May 2023¹

Royal London attributed shortfalls mainly to gaps in National Insurance records, which people may not realise exist until it is too late to act¹. A DWP spokesman said there are a variety of reasons why some pensioners have a lower state pension, including contracting out and paying less National Insurance, and that the department encourages those on the lowest incomes to claim pension credit, worth on average £3,900 a year¹.

Why it matters for households

The £594m already repaid relates to past underpayments, so the money has gone to people who were already receiving too little, not to future claimants¹. The groups identified so far are married women, widows and widowers, and people over 80¹. Anyone whose National Insurance record has a gap may be receiving less than the full rate: in 2023-24 the full new state pension was £203.85 a week, and 49% of recipients received less than that¹. In 2024-25 the full level of the new state pension is £221.20 a week, or £11,502.40 a year¹. Ten years of National Insurance contributions are needed to get any state pension, and 35 years are needed for the full amount, subject to contracting-out history¹. Pension credit tops up weekly income to £218.15 for single people and £332.95 for couples in 2024-25, with a maximum savings credit of £17.01 a week for a single person and £19.04 for couples¹. It is also a gateway to other benefits, including a free TV licence and this year's winter fuel payment¹.

What happens next

Voluntary Class 3 contributions can usually be paid for the past six years, with a deadline of 5 April each year, so gaps for the tax year 2018-19 can normally be filled until 5 April 2025¹. A temporary relaxation allowed some people to fill gaps back to 2006-07; that group can currently pay for gaps from more than six years ago until 5 April 2025¹. Voluntary contributions do not always increase a state pension¹. The government launched an online tool this year to help people check and fill gaps in their National Insurance record¹. The sources do not report a completion date for the HRP or LEAP correction exercises.

People can check their record through the State Pension forecast service, and the basic State Pension, SERPS and Additional State Pension rules explain how contracting out affects the amount paid.